This Means War
by hulkettesmash
Summary: There has been a long time rivalry between S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy's Sci-Tech and Ops Division. When an Ops student stole Howard Stark's bust as a prank he did not expect a full retaliation from a "bunch of nerds". Chaos ensues when these two rivaling S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy Division initiated a prank war. A Battle of Brains vs. Brawns...who will win? S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy AU
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters used. If I did SkyeWard and FitzSimmons would have already been canon without all these heartaches.

* * *

Phil Coulson watched his daughter get up the stage to receive her diploma. It feels like it was just yesterday when he first held Skye Coulson and now he is watching her receive her PhD for Computational Science and Engineering.

He couldn't be more proud of her achievements.

17 years ago Director Fury assigned him to protect an 084, to keep it safe and hidden from the system including Shield. No one besides him and Fury knows about it. He accepted the assignment with no questions and no hesitation thinking it would be an ancient alien weapon of some sort but little did he know that the 084 would turn out to be a small, cute and chubby baby girl.

He can still remember the day that Fury assigned him this mission 17 years ago.

_"I have a new mission for you." Fury announced as soon as Coulson entered his office. "4 months ago I have sent agents to investigate about the report of an 084 at Hunan Province in China. However the response team failed to communicate with Shield so I had implemented a retrieval operation for the 084 led by Agent Linda Avery and Agent Richard Lumley along with 3 other combat operatives. The retrieval was a success however it was reported that the initial team and the entire village were murdered by unknown assailants." Fury continued pausing only to give Coulson the mission file._

_Coulson read over the file and paused in confusion._

_"Yes, the 084 is an infant girl believed to posses mutant powers. The team was meant to turn her over to Shield, however one by one the agents involved in the mission were being killed. Agent Avery fearing for the child's safety decided to deliver the baby to Saint Agnes Orphanage. She made arrangements with the foster care system to not keep the child in one place for too long. 2 weeks later Agent Avery was killed while Agent Lumley has gone missing."_

_Coulson never met Agent Avery or Agent Lumley in person, he only knows them by their reputation. _

_"I had let it go because I thought that the arrangement was fool proof until a rich couple decided to adopt the girl. The orphanage has approved of the adoption before we were able to stop it so instead I've planted an undercover agent to act as the girl's nanny. As expected a group of unknown men killed the couple inside of their home while the agent managed to safely escape with the child child is now back at St. Agnes but she's is no longer safe in the hands of a group of nuns. It is best that Shield takes over the protection of the girl once more."_

_ "This is the only complete copy left of the mission file regarding the girl." pointing at the file in Coulson's hand " I have redacted some information to level 10 clearance; most info is completely wiped out of the system. I deemed it best to keep the girl hidden from the system including Shield's."_

_"Why?" Coulson asked confused as to why Fury is keeping this information from the organization that was meant to protect her. _

_"Because I do not trust Shield. There are only a few people that I fully trust and I can count them in one hand. Once the Council get a whiff of the girl they will not hesitate to use her as a lab rat to be experimented on. That is not a life meant for a child. I am fully convinced that that was part of the reason why Agent Avery decided not to turn the child over to Shield and I will not allow Agent Avery's death be in vain."_

_"Sir, if I may ask, what exactly is my mission in this?" Phil asked._

_"Your mission is to adopt the girl and keep her protected at all times." _

That was the day when Coulson's life has changed dramatically. No one, not even Shield, knows exactly why Coulson suddenly adopted a baby out of nowhere and as far as anyone is concerned he adopted the baby girl out of loneliness.

In the 17 years of raising Skye, Coulson never found out why that she turned out to be an 084. Fury believed that she possessed powers but she never shown even a hint of unnatural ability within her. Both Coulson and Fury continues to hope it stays like that forever because they know more trouble will come her way the moment her gift, if she even has one, was revealed.

"I did it!" Skye squealed as she happily run towards her father's waiting arms.

"Yes you did. I'm so proud of you Skye." He said as he embraced Skye tightly.

* * *

The father-daughter duo went off to celebrate the momentous occasion by going to their favorite steakhouse.

Skye just finished with her dessert when Coulson handed her an envelope.

"What's this? I'm not in trouble again am I?" She jokingly asked seeing the Shield logo printed on the letter envelope that was addressed to her.

"Just open it." Coulson smiled reassuringly, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

With shaking hands Skye opened the letter trying to remember anything she had done to Shield recently. As far as she can remember the last time she hacked into Shield was when she sent Sitwell an email, a fake love note from Agent Hand and that was 5 weeks ago.

Skye's a great hacker, some may even say that she's one of the best there is, and she often hack into different government databases including Shield's. Of course she never touched their mission files, even she knows her limits. She often just mess with their system like making their centralized speakers play Aqua's I'm a Barbie Girl on repeat for a whole week much to the annoyance of Nick Fury and all Shield Agents. She almost always received a warning letter from Fury but there never was any Shield logo from any of them.

She did try to hack into Tony Stark's database 2 days ago but he was able to detect her and sent her hundreds of computer viruses that fried her laptop. Surprisingly, although not really, Stark has better firewall protection than Shield as it was the only system that she had failed to hack into.

But shouldn't it be a Stark's logo in the letter and not Shield's?

Skye took a deep calming breath and begun reading the letter.

_Dear Ms. Skye Coulson,_

_Congratulations!_

_On behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into our Science and Technology Program. As you know S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy for Science and Technology is a highly exclusive program for the best and brightest scientific minds. _

_W e were impressed by your overall qualification, skills and abilities and therefore you were chosen among thousands of outstanding applicants worldwide. _

_Enclose with this letter are the information and documents necessary for your official enrolment into S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy for Science and Technology._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Agent Anne Weaver_

_Director_

_S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy _

_Science and Technology Division_

Skye looked up at her father in surprise. Coulson has always been protective of Skye and she never taught that he would even thing of letting her to join Shield.

Of course she dreamed of following her father's footsteps and become a super secret agent like him. She always thought that it's very badass but every time she asked him if she could join, he answer is always a definite no. He often says that it's too dangerous for her. Quite odd coming from a man who lives and breath Shield but she surmised it as his overprotective father instinct. Although at times she feels as if there is more into it.

"I thought you said joining Shield would be too dangerous. What changed your mind?"

"Shield SciTech trains Scientist, Doctors, Engineers and other technical fields who mostly work in the background. I figured that it's a lot safer than being a field agent or working at Stark industries especially with everything that's happening with Tony Stark. Besides Maria's right you could be a great asset to Shield. I've seen firsthand what you could do with just a phone and a laptop. I can just imagine what more you could do with Shields resources."

Skye was ecstatic that she's finally joining Shield. Sure she may not become a badass crime fighter like Clint and Natasha and she may not be able to become like her godmother and idol Melinda May, one of Shield top field agents who can take out hundreds if guys at once at least before she transferred to admin department for reasons that her father never told her. But she's finally going to enter her father's world and saving people.

She can't wait for the adventures she's sure to experience at SciTech.


	2. Chapter 2

"Time of death 8:45 am. Another failure. He's not going to be happy about this." A woman in a lab coat said as she covered the corpse lying on the operating table with a sheet.

"I've warned you, the formulation is still not perfect. And more importantly an average human body won't be able to accommodate it. We need someone stronger, someone more resilient." A woman's voice replied from the speaker phone.

"We've used up all of our guinea pigs. We need to acquire more of it." The woman in the lab coat looked at the failed test subjects behind her that needs to be disposed of.

"I think know where you can find your needed test subjects." A man suddenly spoke startling the woman in the lab coat.

"Sir, I-I didn't know you were coming." The woman in the lab coat stuttered not expecting the man in-charge of the whole operation.

"No need to fret, I have come here to solve your problems." The man grinned evilly causing the woman in-front of him to shiver in fright.

* * *

Skye dragged her large suitcase down the stairs of her childhood home out into her van.

"Do you really need to bring this much shoes?" Clint hollered above her carrying a big box of Skye's favorite shoes. Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov and Melinda May all came to see her go. They were all excited to hear the news that she's going to Shield Academy but was also slightly disappointed to hear that she's joining SciTech instead of Ops.

While her father was preparing lunch and some road snacks for Skye, Natasha, Clint and Melinda are helping with packing her stuff.

"It's essential, Clint. You can't really expect to me wear the same shoes for all of my outfits." She replied looking horrified.

"I wear the same shoes all the time." Clint argued.

"It's a woman thing. I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"Natasha, Melinda, you don't have these much shoes in your closet, do you?" Clint asked as he saw Natasha and Melinda carrying out the last of Skye's boxes.

"Yes I do." "I actually have more." Both said at the same time.

Skye looked at Clint smugly as he closed her van which is now filled to the brink.

"Thanks again for coming and helping me pack." She told the three.

"No need to thank us kiddo just be sure to make us proud. And I call dibs on becoming your S.O. once you've graduated." announced Clint as he took Skye for a bear hug.

"Nope I was the one who taught her how to hack so I should be her S.O." Natasha pushed Clint off of Skye to embrace her as well. Natasha did taught Skye the basics in hacking but the girl was truly gifted that she eventually surpassed even the best Shield hackers.

Skye walked towards her godmother and the closest mother figure she has for a tight hug. May was never an affectionate person, especially not in public, but Skye was always an exemption therefore she willingly hugged her in return.

Phil Coulson was one of May's closest friend and confidant since joining Shield. When he surprisingly adopted the girl and asked her to be the godmother she was hesitant. Shield was not a safe place for a child and having a family is dangerous for someone in their field. They could be used as targets or a device for blackmailing and being compromised is the last thing someone in her occupation needs. But Phil was adamant in giving the girl a maternal figure and she's the closest thing that Phil has.

But what really convinced May was how Skye first looked at her when Coulson made her carry the child. One look on those brown eyes filled with such wonder and trust and innocence and Melinda knew she was doomed. And since that moment on she knew that she'd kill anyone who ever tried to harm a single hair on this girls head. That moment she promised that she would happily die protecting that girl in her arms.

* * *

Everyone gathered at the dining table for lunch before Skye's departure. Phil once again tried in vain to convince his daughter to let him drive her to the academy. But despite the lack of blood relation Skye is just as stubborn as her father, maybe even more so. Phil argued that he drove his daughter to Harvard University for her College, Master and PhD education, granted she was too young to get a license then, but why should Shield Academy be any different?

"It's an 18 hours drive, Dad. We both know that Shield can't function when you're not with them, not even for just a minute. I'm perfectly capable in driving myself, if anyone tried to mess with me Clint, Natasha and Aunt Mel taught me enough self-defence to protect myself. Besides I already promised to stop by a hotel to rest once it gets too dark. I'll be fine, I promise."

To Skye one of the downside in going to college at such as young age was that she never get to experience the "College Roadtrip" that her classmates talked about. Now that she's 17 and is legal to drive she's adamant on getting to taste that sense of independence and freedom that you get from driving yourself to college, or Shield Cadetship in her case.

"Fine, just be sure that you'll also take a few stopovers to eat. No skipping meals. Got it?"

"Sir, yes, sir." She mocked salute happy that her father finally agreed to let her go on her own.

The rest of the meal were spent with mindless chatter and when everyone was done with their lunch they all went outside to say their goodbyes and well wishes.

Phil was the last to say his goodbye. He took his daughter in a tight hug not wanting to let go. "I'm gonna miss you so bad." He whispered and kissed her temple.

"I'll miss you too, dad. I promise I'll make you proud." She said to him.

"I already am proud of you."

* * *

"This is Agent Amador. Abort mission. It's a trap. I repeat, it's a tra-" and the line went dead.

"Agent Amador was sent lead a group of 8 field agents to a rescue mission. We received an anonymous tip that says that the 16 men that went missing were being kept in an abandoned warehouse. That was the last of the recordings we recovered from the mission. " Deputy Director Maria Hill explained to her direct superior.

"I've sent another team for retrieval but the warehouse was blown to dust. We can't find anything substantial to clue us in on what happened. Not even a trace of their remains." She continued.

"Send an MIA notification to their families. Tell them also that we'll do everything in our power to find them."

"But sir, there is no way that they could survive that ex-." Hill tried to argue but she was cut off by Fury's angry roar "You said it yourself Agent Hill, their remains were not found. Until then they are considered MIA."

Fury hates losing people and he would do anything in his power not to add 9 more people on the list.


	3. Chapter 3

Just as she promised her father, Skye made a stopover at a small hotel called La Preza to rest for the night. After checking in she went to a diner nearby to grab a bite.

Upon entering she saw that the place was already crowded and all the tables already occupied.

She tried looked further in the back and, thankfully, found a booth in the dark corner with only one occupant.

The occupant, obviously male, had his broad back to her. Skye hesitantly approached him hoping that the guy is not a crazy killer and more importantly, he'd let her sit with him.

"Uh...Hi?" The guy looked up from the book he was reading and gave her a once over not showing an ounce of emotion.

Skye stood frozen after seeing his face. This guy was probably the most gorgeous guy that she'd ever seen in her life. He could definitely pass as a model or an actor or both.

She also sensed something dangerous about the guy, he practically carries the same aura that Clint, Natasha and Melinda had, but instead of feeling afraid of him she grew more attracted to him. _It's probably the jaw line, that thing ought to be illegal._

Skye stood staring at him for what felt like hours when she was brought out of her trance like state by the hot guy who said something she failed to catch.

Skye shook her head to clearing her thoughts before stuttering "Huh?...uhm...what was that?"

"I said, can I help you?" Oh God, even his voice sounds so hot. _Yes, you can definitely help me with a lot of things. Starting with helping her scratch that itch between her legs with his mouth and_ \- Skye immediately stopped herself before her thoughts get any dirtier. _Since when did she become such a slut?_, she thought to herself.

"Uh, Y-Yeah. I was hoping you wouldn't mind letting me sit here with you? All other tables are full."

The guy simply nodded his head and went back to reading.

"I'm Skye by the way." She introduced herself as she sat down in-front of him however the guy ignored her and continued reading his book.

The two has been sitting quietly ignoring each other for quite some time when a waitress finally approached them. The waitress, clearly too stressed out with the amount of patrons tonight, barely gave them a glance when she asked for their orders. She quickly jots it down and moved on to another customer before Skye managed to say that they are not together and would prefer a separate bill.

The silence was becoming too awkward and intolerable for Skye that she tried once again to start a conversation with the guy sitting across from her. "So, Hunger Games?"

"Matterhorn" He said without looking up from his book.

_This is not awkward at all, she thought sarcastically._ Trying again she asked "So, you got a name? Seeing as I've already introduced myself I figured it's only fair that I know yours."

The man remained silent.

"O-kay. I guess I'm gonna stick to calling you T-1000."

"T what?" he looked up with a raised eyebrow.

G_otcha!, S_kye smirked "T-1000, you know from the Terminator movies. With the leather jacket and all you could definitely pass as an android assassin from the future. You definitely have the same body type as the younger Arnold Schwarzenegger." _Only hotter and with a lickable jaw line, _she added in her mind_._

Earning a chuckle from him she felt more confident to continue, "So are you going to tell me your name or do you want me to keep calling you T-1000."she tease him.

"It's Grant Ward" Grant introduced himself.

It was obvious to Grant Ward that the brown haired, brown eyed beauty finds him attractive and he admits that the feeling's mutual. He had to force himself to keep his face neutral the first time he saw her.

He barely registered a single line from the book he was reading since she sat in-front of him. He tried to ignore her, or at least pretend to be ignoring her while he turns the page of his book every few minutes as to not be too obvious that he was watching her fidget in her seat.

Giving up the pretence, Grant put his book down and gave Skye his undivided attention.

"So what is a young girl like you doing here this late at night?" he cringed at his awful attempt at flirting.

"First I'm 17, I am not that young." Skye was a bit offended to be called a young girl, especially by a guy she's having a crush on. She likes to think she's mature for her age seeing as she got her first PhD at a tender age of seventeen being one of Harvards' youngest student to ever receive a Doctorate Degree.

Sure she can be a bit playful and troublesome, at least according Fury, but still mature compared to kids her age.

"Anyways, I'm here for my College Road trip. I was just taking a detour and checked in a nearby hotel." It wasn't technically a lie, just an edited version of the truth. Skye knew she cannot reveal that she was accepted to a Cadetship at Shield Academy training to become one a Shield Agent, can she?

Ward tried to think of any University close by. That truth is Grant can't think of any besides Shield Academy but that was impossible. _She did say she was taking a detour so it could be farther ahead._

"What about you? You don't look like a local." Skye asked him curious to know more about this gorgeous guy.

"Just passing through. Staying at a small hotel nearby. Will be gone by morning." He told her. He had to make sure to share as little information about him as possible.

"Are you trying to ask me to join you at your hotel? I'm sorry but I'm a proper southern girl, you'll make me untidy."

Grant can't help but laugh at her horrible southern girl accent which is weird. Grant is the type of guy who takes everything too seriously, at least according to his friends. All he ever thinks about is graduating on top of all his classes and becoming a high ranking agent. He isn't overly friendly either, he can literally count his friends at SciOps in one hand, but there is something about Skye that lures him in.

Every little thing about her entices him; her expressive eyes, cute smile, her corny humor and sweet laugh. He wants to learn more about her and that scares him. It's a good thing that they'll eventually go onto their separate ways by morning never to see each other again. Grant doesn't think he'll be capable of staying away from her if she's just a short distance away. He's about to graduate from Sci Ops and become a full fledged agent. The last thing Grant Ward needs is a relationship to complicate things. Not that he thought of having a relationship with the beautiful woman in-front of him.

The food's arrival may have brought him back from his reverie but it did not cease Grant worry.

Both continued to talk while eating. Or at least Skye did most of the talking while Grant gives short comments here and there. When the bill arrived Grant quickly paid for both their meals before Skye can take out her wallet.

He walked her to their hotel room, it turns out that they are both checked-in the same hotel and is only two floors away from each other

"You didn't have to pay for my food." Skye insisted "Besides guys only pay for their dates' meal."

"Consider it as a date then and now I'm taking you back home before your curfew." Grant rarely makes a joke but then again he feels more relaxed than he's ever been when around Skye.

"Well in that case, I should warn you I don't kiss on first dates." Skye jokingly said earning a tiny chuckle from Grant.

"Maybe on our second date then?" Oh, how Grant wished to have a second date with her; maybe even a third, a fourth, a fifth and more. But he knows that's not possible, especially once he become a Shield Agent.

It may have just been her imagination but to Skye but his last comment seemed to have sense a tinge of sadness in it and she knows why. She would like to have that second date with him but in reality they'll both go on their separate ways once morning arrived.

Grant bid Skye farewell once they arrived in-front of her hotel room, both knew that this is going to be the last time they'll see each other.

Grant was about to turn back to get to the elevator that would take him to his own floor but Skye stopped him. She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips on his cheek.

"Goodnight." She said grinning as she entered her hotel room leaving a stunned Grant standing outside her door.

Grant stood by her door as a grin slowly forms on his face.

* * *

"The subject is convulsing. His body is rejecting the serum."

"Check his vitals"

"His temperature is 115 degrees Fahrenheit, heart rate 160 bpm and still increasing. There is no way he'll survive."

"His internal organs ruptured. He's gone. It's over."

"He's temperature is above 160 degrees. Everyone evacuate the room! He's about to explode!"

* * *

Agent Amador helplessly watched them cart-off the remains another one of her comrades who exploded.

Agent Reid was a good agent and an even better friend. He was recently married to his girlfriend of 5 years with a baby on the way. Another life lost. Another future ruined.

Before him, there was Agent Simpson, 28 years old and a closet Taylor Swift fan. She has a girlfriend who also works as a surgeon for Shield. They got engaged last year and are planning to marry this December.

And then there was Agent Hanks, great fighter with a penchant for using throwing knives. He owns 3 cats that he rescued from a group of teenagers who were planning on throwing them to the freezing river. He loves them and treats them like they were his own children.

In a split second their bright future vanished and it was all her fault. She led her team to a trap and now they are all paying the price of her stupidity.

The door to her cell opened, she was too tired and too sore to fight them in order to escape. With both hands and feet bounded, she let them drag her to her death.


	4. Chapter 4

Skye was in awestruck.

Shield Science &amp; Technology is amazing. Its grounds is bigger and wider than Harvard with a huge statue if Howard Stark in the middle. And the architecture looked sophisticated, clean cut and bright, the design is truly breathtaking.

It's even better than what she imagined and that was just on the outside. She can't wait to see what's waiting for her inside.

Her first stop was to the registrar's office. There she picked up her class schedule, dorm room assignment and school map. She was also given a memo regarding the first year's orientation she was required to attend.

After that she followed the school map's direction and drove towards where the dorm building is suppose to be. The Dorm is huge U-shaped building, the two wings separating the boys and the girls' dorms. The building is made up of 16 floors and is connected by a grand foyer that also housed three sets of elevator for each wing and a door that leads to the fire-escape stairs.

In the main entrance of the building, she was greeted once again by Howard Stark, this time in its bust form.

_Wow, they're real Stark fanatics aren't they? _Skye thought.

She took the elevator and proceeded to the 3rd floor in order to find her room. Each year level have their assigned floors. The 1st and 2nd floors are for the stay-in faculty and staffs, 3rd to 6th floors are for the first years, 7th to 10th are for the second years, 11th to 13th are for third years and 14th to 16th floors are for the seniors.

Her room was already unlocked when she found it. Inside was a brown haired girl, whom Skye assumed is her roommate, unpacking her things. Her new roommate looked up at as she heard Skye enter and gave her a big, warm smile.

"Hi! You must be my roommate. I'm Jemma Simmons by the way" The young British greeted Skye enthusiastically.

"I'm Skye. It's nice to meet you." Skye knew immediately that she's going to like Jemma Simmons. She seems to be a kind and cheerful person and Skye likes to think that she's a pretty excellent judge of character.

Skye looked around the room where she'd be spending her year at. It was quite barren with white walls, two beds on the opposite side wall, two study tables, two closet and a small bathroom that she'd be sharing with her roommate. She placed the boxes she's carrying on top of the bed that was unclaimed by Jemma.

It took Skye three trips in order to move all her stuff from her van to her room. Jemma after noticing Skye's struggle helped her out on the third trip.

As Skye put on the last of her clothes inside the closet she turned to Jemma who was sitting on her bed reading. "So you wanna find the cafeteria to grab something to eat before going to the auditorium for the orientation?"

"Sure, I'm feeling quite famished."

The cafeteria wasn't that crowded when they arrived giving them ample time to finish their lunches before they have to walk to the auditorium. The Auditorium was at the school's main building around 3-4 minutes' walk from the dormitories. It was huge and can house hundreds of student at once with state of the art sound system.

Agent Weaver was already at the stage, along with a handful of other Agents whom Skye presumed are their professors, waiting for all the first year students to arrive.

Agent Weaver gave a short welcoming speech and introduced all the professors that sat on the stage behind her before handing the mic to another agent. They were briefed about the Shield and Shield Academy's history, the Academy's policies, Vision-Mission, etc. It was really boring that Skye dozed off in right in the middle of it. Jemma, on the other hand, not only paid close attention but also took notes on everything that was said.

Skye has no clue how long she has been sleeping when Jemma shook her awake telling her that the orientation was over.

They both decide to use the remaining sunlight to explore the school grounds.

Soon the sun sets and they both walked back to their dorm room only to be greeted by the scent of rotting fish.

"Ugh…where is that horrid smell coming from?" Jemma asked her voice muffled by a handkerchief she's using to cover her nose. Skye looked all over the room before finding the culprit inside the air vent. It was a basket of rotting fish with a note attached to it.

_Welcome to SciTech Fresh Meat!_

_As part of your initiation rights to this prestigious academy you are now subjected to a torturous year brought by yours truly. The Freshmen Prank has commenced. Enjoy your stay in hell._

_ -Senior Class of 2004 _

"What the hell?" Skye exclaimed furious "This has got to be a joke right? Freshmen Prank?"

* * *

Unfortunately it was not a joke. Day in and day out one freshman after another would fall victim to the Freshmen Prank, Skye and Jemma included.

Apparently all freshmen received a "gift basket" of rotting meat, fish or poultry with a lovely note to it. It's been days and the smell still hasn't left their room. Jemma already filled every nook and cranny of their room with powdered charcoal to rid of the smell.

Jemma and Skye swore that they'll look for each other's back and make sure that they do not accidentally fall victim to a trap set by a senior.

They were walking back to their room on high alert when they heard a scream, "Ouch! Stop it! That stings! Aaaahhhhh!"

"Skye, where are you going?" Shouted Jemma as soon as Skye took off to where the sound was coming from.

"We should help them!" She shouted back.

_This is going to end badly. I just know it. _Jemma thought as she reluctantly followed Skye.

They found 3 senior students chasing and shooting at their newest freshman victim, a curly haired boy, with their paintball guns. "I said stop it!" He yelled while he tried to escape the attack.

Skye, without thinking, run towards the three guys. Channelling everything that her godmother taught her she managed to disarm the guy closest to her while the other two who continued to chase the boy remained unaware of their fallen comrade. Skye quickly took the gun and pelted the remaining two bullies with paintballs.

_Shit!_ _I did not think this through._ She panicked when the two seniors finally noticed her presence and focused their attack on her.

"Run!" She yelled at the boy as she run the other way exchanging fire with her assailants. When her gun run out of ammo she threw it away and kept on running without looking back even just to check if they were still chasing after her.

She didn't stop running until she was met with body of water. The adrenaline rush that aided her in fighting and running away from those guys fade and she collapsed at a nearby tree trying to catch her breath.

_This must be the river that separated Science &amp; Technology from Operations._

There has been an on-going rivalry between Sci-Tech and Ops and Skye never knew the root cause of said rivalry except for the fact that it remained unresolved for decades. As far as Skye knows, no one dares to go here and the friendship bridge that was supposed to unite the two school division remained unused.

Which makes this place a perfect hiding spot for Skye.

From then on, Skye claimed this very spot that she's sitting on as her own private place. A place where she can have some "me" time.

Skye didn't know how long she stayed there, all she knew was that the sound of the rushing water and wind breezing through the trees calmed and soothed her enough for a nap, it was already dark when she woke up.

_I guess it's time to go back to reality._ Sighing she stood up and walked back home blissfully unaware of the tall, dark haired man in Shield Ops uniform jogging on the other side of the river.


	5. Chapter 5

"Skye!" Jemma crushed Skye in a tight hug as soon as she entered their room.

"I've been so worried about you! Where have you been? I was so sure that those guys already killed you!"

"Jemma, Can't breathe!"

"Oops. Sorry!" Jemma finally let go of Skye and letting her friend breath.

"But seriously tough where did you learn to fight like that? It was amazing! You were like a ninja! You definitely took them, and me, by surprise! You could've been at Shield Ops with that kind of fighting skills!" Jemma continued to gush. "And the way you beat up that guy and took his gun. You were so badass!"

The two were interrupted by a knock.

Skye opened up the door and saw the guy she saved earlier. "Hi there, I'm Leopold Fitz." The curly haired guy introduced himself. "I just came here to thank you for saving my life."

"I'm Skye and there's no need to thank me. We freshmen gotta stick together am I right? Would you like to come in?"

"Oh no, I didn't want to intrude. I just came to give you this. It's my specialty; a prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella sandwich with a hint of homemade pesto aioli. It's a thank you gift."

"Thanks!" Skye missed dinner while she was hiding at her secret spot and she didn't realize how hungry she was until she took a big bite of the heavenly sandwich that Leo gave her.

"This is yummy!" she exclaimed with her mouth still full.

"Hey Skye! Who was that at the door?" Jemma came up to Skye's side.

Finally noticing their guest Jemma's face morphed from excitement to stone cold hatred, as did Leo's.

Skye noticing the animosity between the two, slowly backed away munching her sandwich at a safe distance.

"Fitz" Jemma greeted him coldly.

"Simmons" He replied just as cold.

"It's getting late. I'm sure boys are not allowed in the women's dorms at this time."

"Well. I was just about to leave." He told her and then looked at Skye "So I heard you're a computer major. You should come by my room sometimes. I'd love to show you my thing. I mean my hardware. No – I mean my equipment! I – uh…nevermind." He awkwardly waved goodbye to Skye and run off.

"Well, that was weird." Skye said still looking at the spot Leo evacuated.

"You wanna make something awkward copy Fitz." Jemma remarked as she closed the door.

"I'm sensing some sort of hostility between you and curly tops over there. What's up?"

"He's just my biggest rival here at SciTech. He keeps on trying to one up me in every class that we have. Especially in Chemical Kinetics, Professor Franklin Hall seems to adore him more than me."

"I don't know. I think you guys look cute together, besides as much as I love spending time with you you're gonna need a science geek to hang out with. Someone who wouldn't zone out each time you talk about all your science know-how."

"That's nonsense. There is nothing in this universe and the next can convince me "hang out" with him. Can we not talk about him anymore? I know let's watch Doctor Who!" She said with grabbing her laptop.

* * *

"Gravitonium is an extremely rare element that has unique gravitational properties. Its atoms distort the gravity within itself which cause it to take this blob-like shape. Now can someone please tell me the Atomic Number and Symbol of this element?" Dr. Franklin Hall is discussing his latest discovery in-front of his first year class.

Jemma Simmons, one of his favourite students, raised her hand faster than a speeding bullet, "Sir, its Atomic Symbol is Gr and its Atomic Number is 123."

"Excellent, Ms. Simmons! Now can someone tell me what the Atomic Mass of Gravitonium is?"

Leopold Fitz, his other favourite student who does not want to get out done by Simmons, also raised his hands to answer, "Its 308 Da."

"Very Good, Mr. Fitz!"

Dr. Hall was interrupted mid-discussion by the school bell. "Class dismissed. Ms. Simmons and Mr. Fitz, kindly stay behind. I would like to speak with the both of you."

Once all the students vacated the room Fitz and Simmons came up front to hear what Dr. Hall was going to say to them.

"Alright Ms. Simmons and Mr. Fitz, you two have been my best students in this class. You have managed to exceed my expectations. Therefore I have spoken to Director Weaver to transfer you two to my advance class." Both students could not believe what they are hearing right now. It was not an uncommon occurrence for a first year student to be transferred to a higher level class but they have to truly excel.

"However, in order for Director Weaver to approve my recommendation you both needed to work on your teamwork. Other professors have informed me that your competition towards each other have been causing major disruption in their classes." After looking at both students guilty expression he continued, "That is why I'm assigning you both to work on a special assignment together. You have two weeks to finish a research paper regarding the properties of the Gravitonium and its effect toward earth's gravity."

* * *

"Dr. Hall is so unfair!" A furious Jemma cried out as soon as she entered the room interrupting Skye from her Algorithm homework.

"What's that smell?", she then asked distracted by the weird sour smell coming from her roommate.

"Some seniors thought it would be hilarious to dump a bucket of spoiled milk on me; at least I think its spoiled milk. I already showered twice and still can't get rid of the smell. What about you? I thought Dr. Hall was your favourite teacher, what changed?"

"That horrid man just recommended Fitz and me to his advance class."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Skye now confused about Jemma's outburst.

"Yes…but before we can transfer Fitz and I must work on a research paper…together." Jemma made a face as if the idea of them working together makes her sick.

"Oh right, you hate the guy." Skye still don't get the reason behind the animosity between the two. Leo seemed cool and friendly, he was a Robotics Engineering major and she has two classes with him.

"Skye could you be a little bit more sympathetic? I had to spend two weeks working with him!" Jemma cried out

"Look, this is a great opportunity for you two. Can't you two just forget about your differences, make a truce and work on a project together? And when you're finished and you both can go back to hating each other's guts for no reason."

Jemma sighed, she knows Skye was right. _I best talk to him soon. Settle our difference and work together. Beside we're both geniuses, working together would only make us twice as smart. _

* * *

"Stop! Please stop!" Akela screamed out in pain. She's curled up in her dark cell writhing, eyes tightly shut, nails digging on her palms drawing blood.

She can't take much more of it. They've been torturing her with the mechanical device they used to replace her blinded eye.

They had been at it for hours, maybe days. Akela has passed out from the pain multiple times and she's about to pass out again soon if they continue with it. She wanted to pass out, anything to give her a moment of reprieve. She considered banging her head to the wall till she's unconscious.

"You know, the more you resist, the worst it gets."

"I will never work for you!" she spatted then screamed as the pain worsened.

She wants' this to end.

"Kill me, please kill me." right now she just want's to give up and she doesn't care how pathetic she look begging for a quick death in front of her enemies. She'd welcome death with open arms if it meant escaping this torturous hell.

"That would be far too merciful. Besides you are more valuable to us alive than dead."


	6. Chapter 6

Bang

Bang

Bang

Bang

Bang

Bang

Bang

4 bullets to the chest, 3 to the head.

That was what they were taught at Shield Ops.

And Grant Douglas Ward was the best sharp shooter there. He never misses his shot...until now. And he doesn't know why.

Actually scratch that. He knows the reason why and it goes by the name of Skye.

For some reason he can't erase that bright smile from his mind. She haunts him even in his sleep.

She's beautiful, sweet, funny, kind and sexy as hell.

_What am I talking about? I've only known her for hours._ And those few hours is enough to make him lose his focus.

_This is exactly why I can't have a relationship. These emotions are making it hard for me to compartmentalize. _

This is too dangerous.

Just like two days ago, when he lost his footing in less than 3 minutes of sparring with Bobbi Morse. Sure she is one of the best cadets at Shield Ops but it still hurt his ego to be beaten by a woman. Especially if that specific woman never stopped reminding him of his defeat every chance she got. And Hunter and Tripp are no help either.

_Why was I friends with them again? _He asked himself.

"Damn. You're getting worse and worse each day." He heard his friend and roommate Antoine Triplett called out irking him even more.

_Think of the devil and they shall appear._ He thought as his three friends came in the shooting range.

"What do you want?" He demanded gritting his teeth as he roughly changed the magazine of his gun.

"Believe it or not we're actually concerned about you." He heard the British accented voice of Lance Hunter "you've been so out of it lately."

"Yeah man, the hell is wrong with you?" Tripp continued.

"Nothing is wrong with me." He seethed becoming more frustrated.

"Is it a girl?" Bobbi asked calmly. "You've been pouting and mopping around since you arrived. If that doesn't scream girl trouble then I don't know what does." Of course, trust Bobbi to see through this kind of things.

Grant knows it's useless to lie to her because she can smell bullshit from miles so he remained silent. But that was enough confirmation for Bobbi.

"Oh my gosh! Who is she? What is she like? Is she pretty? Does she go here? What year is she in?" Suddenly excitedly for her friend, Bobbi fired off question after another. Bobbi may seem vicious and intimidating to other guys but she's really a bit of a romantic at heart.

She couldn't help but make it her personal mission to find out who this woman is and make sure that she and Ward hook up.

"Woah! Wait! Hold-on! Did you just say that Ward, _OUR_ Ward, is in love? "Tripp asked disbelievingly while Lance laughed uproariously beside him.

Grant tried to ignore the sniggering duo behind him as he resumed shooting the target picturing it to be the face of his "friends".

He fired 7 shots; 3 in the chest, 3 in the head and one bullet straight to the groin.

Grant suffered all throughout the day the two mean continued to bug and ridiculed Grant about his mystery woman. They're constantly asking him questions about her identity or what she looks like. Lance tried giving him ridiculous advice on how to woo a lady. The two idiots he can easily ignore but he cannot for the lie of him ignore the contemplative looks coming from Bobbi.

Whatever it is that's going through her head, Grant knows would be his ultimate doom

* * *

Jemma Simmons is dragging a disgruntled and sleepy looking Leo Fitz by his collar towards the library while she spouts out ideas for their paper.

"I don't recall agreeing to do this paper with you." grumbled a still hardly awake Fitz.

It was 6 am on a Saturday when Simmons came banging on his door demanding him to wake up. He hadn't had a chance to even look at a cup of coffee before Simmons started yanking him by his collar.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I would like to transfer to Mr. Professor Hall's advance Chemical Kinetics class. And as much as I hate the idea of us working together, we both know he had to." Simmons continued dragging Fitz until they reached the library doors.

She then face Fitz and said "We may not often see eye to eye but that this opportunity is too great to pass up. I know deep down you agree with me."

Fitz knew Simmons is right and teamwork has always been Sci-tech's motto, "Fine, but as long as I get to contribute my own ideas for the paper. And no more trying to sabotage my work. Deal?" Fitz said holding out his hand for a shake.

"Deal" Simmons agreed shaking Fitz's offered hand.

* * *

"So how was your study date with Leo?" Skye asked as soon as Jemma entered their room.

"Okay, first of all, it's not a date. And second…it was alright." She said while she put down her book bag on her desk to avoid looking at Skye. She spent the entire day with Leopold exchanging ideas and at times the engage in some chatter unrelated to their work. She loved bickering with him, rebutting each other's theories and she never had an intelligent conversation with anyone before.

Skye's pretty intelligent but she's more into math and computers and can hardly follow each time Jemma talks about some scientific journal she read.

Plus their interest are just too different, Jemma loves to discuss about Dr. Banner's study about Gamma Radiation and Skye is more interested in trying to replicate Tony Starks interactive computer system named J.A.R.V.I.S.

Simmons then lay down her bed and immediately saw Skye's raised eyebrows looking unconvinced.

"Fine! It was more than alright. He's actually quite nice to talk to. And you were right, it's fun to discuss with someone who doesn't doze off mid-conversation."

"In my defence, I'm not a science geek. I have absolutely no clue what those scientific mambo jambo you are constantly babbling about. And second, although I hate to tell I told you so…Oh who am I kidding. Ha! I told you so!" Skye bragged doing a happy dance and Jemma just looked at her unimpressed.

* * *

Every evening Grant always finds himself jogging nearby the river that separates Scitech and Ops division. No one ever dared to come here much less cross the border that separates the two, thus making this place the perfect place for Grant to get away and wind down.

Especially with the stress that his friends are subjecting him to.

He jogs to the hum of the trees and the chirp of the birds and crickets. The fresh air helping him relax.

He's been jogging for 45 minutes when he noticed something odd from the Scitech's side of the river.

_Huh, that's new._

There was someone sitting under a willow tree and judging by the soft glow coming from what look like a laptop screen it's a girl. But the distance is too far and the light was too low for Grant to see her features clearly.

_I guess someone else has found sanctuary here. Whoever that girl is, she's either unaware of the ongoing fight between the two divisions or just doesn't care. _

Grant himself does not give a damn about the rivalry between the two. But he does revel on the status of being in ops. Every Scitech student that comes across them always runs to the other direction. If Sci-tech is known to be the nerds of Shield Academy, Ops are known to be the jocks.

It's pretty well known that although Sci-Tech is the hardest to get into, you've literally got to be a genius to get in, but Ops division is the hardest to stay at. Each year dozens of students get debarred each semester. And each semester the class gets tougher and tougher that it would make Divergent's dauntless trainings look like a piece of cake.

They are trained in numerous fighting styles, marksmanship and espionage. They are assessed not just by their strength and agility in combat but also their quick thinking and resourcefulness especially in a life threatening situation.

Most, if not all, Sci-tech student often underestimates their intelligence.

Sure, they may not be as smart as the students in Sci-Tech but they're not as stupid as most make them out to be. Being tough is not enough to survive in a hostile environment, you have to be quick witted too.

Grant looked back at the girl sitting under the tree. She seems to be too busy with whatever she's typing to notice that Grant has been observing her for a while. _If she's an Ops student she would have failed Threat Assessment already. _He thought as jogged back to his dorm.


	7. Chapter 7

This research paper is the best thing that has ever happened to Leopold Fitz.

He never thought he'd meet a likeminded soul in the form of his greatest rival in SciTech.

When he first met Jemma Simmons he thought that she was a conceited know-it-all. She's always seen with her nose stuck in a book and with her hands up straight waiting to be called to answer a question.

She always seemed so stuck-up and Fitz made it a mission to take her down a peg or two.

That's why he competes with her in every one of their classes.

He originally thought that writing a research paper with her would be like living in hell.

But she was the exact opposite of what he expected.

He thought she'd be an annoying know-it-all who thinks too highly of herself and would turn down or even ignore his suggestions and opinions.

After spending all of his free time with her, he got to know the real Jemma Simmons. She's smart, obviously, kind, sweet, and funny.

And she's pretty…really pretty. She smells nice too. Not that he sniffed her; he just noticed that she wears fruit scented cologne.

And she laughs at his joke.

Fitz never noticed how beautiful she looked laughing.

Now, Fitz is making Jemma Simmons laugh his new mission.

* * *

Skye has had enough of this Freshmen Prank!

The first seven weeks she spent at SciTech she received mud facials with worms on the side, post-it covered van, got stuck on a glued floor for three hours, slipped on a buttered hallway, and got zapped while turning on the school's computer.

She's tired of having to constantly looking over her shoulders anticipating when she'll be victimized again.

Unfortunately for Jemma was one of the most recent victims.

Apparently the seniors thought it would be hilarious to mix-up the labels of the chemicals therefore resulting to a small explosion at the chemistry lab and the burning Jemma's right eyebrow.

"Oh it looks horrid." Jemma said exasperatedly while she poked her singed brows.

"Don't worry it's really not that bad. It's hardly noticeable. Right, Skye?" Leo tried to sooth her.

"Huh?" Skye looked up to Leo quizzically. She zoned out of their discussion too focused on her codes.

Leo surreptitiously touched his eyebrow to bring Skye back to the topic at hand.

"Uh, yeah. It's nothing a small amount of make-up won't fix." She told Jemma before going back to her work.

Right now the trio are gathered around a Holotable for their mandatory Holographic Engineering class working on the group project that their professor assigned to them.

The class were divided by groups of three, each member having a different set of specialty. They are supposed to combine their knowledge into designing a gadget or weapon and create a 3D model of it using the holotable.

Leo, being a robotics and weapons engineer, thought that it would be a great idea to create small droids that would help in gathering evidences of a crime scene without having to be at the crime scene.

Jemma designed the specific function for each droid based on her knowledge in forensics. She and Leo were tasked to designing the droid itself while Skye was then tasked to create its operating system. While Leo engineers a sample droid based on the 3D model, Jemma and Skye would then design the database software that would compile, analyze and interpret the data gathered by these drones.

It was also Leo's idea to name them DWARFS. "Because there are seven of them." He argued in his strong Scottish accent.

"Alright, I'm done with Sneezy's program. Still thinking that its weird to name these things after a Disney character, just so you know" she said looking pointedly at Leo.

"So that's one down, six more excruciating codings to go. Yay." She said waving her hands sarcastically.

The two both used to Skye's sass simply ignored her comment. "Like I was saying, I'm sick of falling victim to these brutish pranks. I wish someone would give them a taste if their own medicine."

"Wait. Hold up… Jemma you're a genius!" Skye exclaimed.

"I usually am but what about this time?" Jemma asked confused by her friend's outburst.

"We should give them a taste of their own medicine." Skye suggested pointing at the three of them

"Okay how would you suggest...No!" Skye nodded excitedly once Jemma realized what she was getting into.

"No! I can't be part of your bad girl shenanigans! I like following the rules and doing what's expected of me. It makes me feel nice."

Leo lost on what the two girls were discussing asked, "Can someone please tell me what you two are blabbering about?"

"I think that we should retaliate and prank the seniors in return! Maybe then they'll stop torturing us." Skye explained.

"Or they'll torture us even more. Besides I wasn't referring to us when I said that! I'm a good girl Skye. I follow the rules, I don't break them." Jemma knew that with Skye's stubbornness it's impossible to change her mind, but that doesn't mean she'll be a willing accomplice to her shenanigans.

"There are no rules against this. At least I don't think so. I mean if they can get away with it so can we!" Skye told Jemma.

"I think Skye has a point, Simmons." Leo added.

"Oh Fitz! Not you too?" Jemma sighed in disbelief.

Ignoring Simmons, he continued "I'm a rocket scientist. You have two PhDs and Skye -"

"Has an uncanny ability to always get into trouble?" Jemma said in false sweetness cutting him off mid sentence.

"Hey! I'm good at stuff too." Skye quickly defended herself.

"Anyways...as I was saying. Together can do just about anything." Leo continued.

Now that Leo is on her side, Skye's more adamant in convincing Jemma to join the crusade. Jemma knowing that she's outnumbered sighed and nodded her head in agreement.

* * *

"Are you sure we should do it?" Jemma can't help but feel like she's signing her life to hell.

Don't get her wrong, she would love to do anything to stop the seniors from tormenting them but what they're doing is a suicide mission.

"Well, it's kinda your idea. Could you please pass me those thumbscrews?" Fitz commented without looking away from the contraption his building.

"It was an offhand comment! I didn't think you'd take it seriously." She argued while handing him the box.

"You know what I think? I think that if we show the senior that they can't keep on bullying us then we'll gain their respect. It's not like we have something to lose. They're already tormenting us, what's the worst they can do?" he told her.

"I wish you never said that." she mumbled to herself.

"Relax Jem, it'll be fine." Fitz held her hand in comfort. It's amazing how well their hands fit together. Palm to palm, fingers entwining.

It's like puzzle pieces.

That thought made her smile.

"Whatever happens, I promise I'll be there to protect you." He whispered to her, tucking her hair behind her ears.

She loved how his fingers that grazed her skin sent shivers down her spine.

Blushing, she sent him a warm smile.

Fitz traced the blush on her cheeks down to her neck, amazed by how beautiful she looked and curious as to where that blush ends.

He was brought out his reverie when Simmons cleared her throat.

Feeling awkward and embarrassed by his actions, Fitz went back to building his device to clear his mind.

"So what are you making?" Simmons asked him.

"Oh, this? It's nothing, just something for the prank. I was inspired by those men who pelted me with paintball. This machine will continuously fire paintball when triggered by this laser motion detector." He explained to her his latest design.

"Impressive. I guess I'll have to make sure that they'll pass by it." Jemma said as a slow malicious grin forms on her still beautiful face.

* * *

"Skipper to Bravo. I've got eye on top dog, the eagle is landing."

"What are you doing?" Skye heard the confused voice of Jemma from her earpiece.

"Nothing. Just saw Director Weaver enter her room. All is clear from here on out." Skye announced as she continued to watch the security footage of the whole school.

It was easy for someone with Skye's skills to hack into the school's main server. In fact, in less than 3 minutes she gained total control of the dorms security cameras and door lock system. "I've now rigged all camera recordings into a continuous loop so you'd be invisible setting them up."

After 2 weeks and 3 days of planning and preparation the day has come for retribution. The group divided the task at hand. Leo and Jemma are supposed to use their genius minds in setting up a prank for the seniors while Skye makes a diversion that would lead them to it.

Skye watches Leo and Jemma do their magic from her laptop. Leo was busy screwing some weird mechanism on the walls while Jemma pours out some kind of white goo concoction on the hallway floors.

Once they were done they congregated back to Skye and Simmon's room.

"Okay, wanna tell me what exactly did you two European evil masterminds have in store for them?" She asked once the two entered the room.

"You'll find out soon enough." Jemma said smirking evilly.

_Note to self: Never ever piss off Simmons. _

"Okay, you guys ready?" When the two nodded excitedly Skye went back to her laptop. She ensured that the cameras are recording everything properly again then she triggered the fire alarm and unlocked all doors of all rooms from 14th floor and up where all the seniors are staying.

One by one the senior students started rushing out of their room and one by one they slipped from the white goo that Jemma spread out in the hallway. And they all continued to slide down all the way up to the end of the hall bumping into each other while they were pelted with paintballs by Leo's mechanism.

"That's my very own creation. The chemical counteracts with friction thus giving the floor a coefficient of friction of 0.009 and making it more slippery than rubbing two PolyTetrafluoroethylene together." Jemma explained smugly and the other two continued to laugh.

_Note to self: Never mess with these two European Geniuses, _Skye thought as she continued to watch the seniors trying and failing to stand up.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day every student in SciTech received a message from an untraceable number of the video of the senior's misadventure from the night before. Skye had edited the original video and created a dub-smash remix of it. She even put in some sound effects to her favourite parts to make it more hilarious.

Everywhere you go you can see students laughing watching it from their phones or tablet. Nobody knew where the video came from and yet it spread like wildfire. Ultimately their plan was a success.

The three decided to celebrate their victory at the Boiler Room, a bottle of ice-cold beer on each of their hands. And every now and then a first year student would come up to them to talk with them about the infamous video not knowing they were the genius minds behind it.

They were just laughing with another group first year students trying to relax when small group of seniors came up to them. Sensing danger all the first years stood up and left the boiler room.

They were about to follow when a girl in a flower dress and big Bambi eyes stopped them.

"Going somewhere?" she asked them sweetly.

The flower girl sat on the vacated seat, "I'm Raina by the way. You know, I admire your bravery in trying to take us down. No first year ever dared to stand up for themselves…that was until you guys came along."

"We-we don't know what yo-you are talking about." Leo stuttered.

"Oh, I'm sure you do. You see, us senior also happened to have our own genius hacker. His name is Miles Lydon, I'm sure you've heard of him, he's responsible for the Putin hack. Anyways, he managed to back-trace your hack." Raina smiled at them.

"It wasn't easy. It took me the whole night to locate you. You're really good at covering your track Skye." A handsome man, whom Skye assumed to be Miles, appeared beside Raina.

"Are you here to kill us?" A very skittish Jemma asked the group of seniors, imagining their painful demise.

"No, but you see the Freshmen prank has always been a SciTech tradition and no one ever dared to break it before." Raina explained

"We didn't mean to break a long time tradition. We just wanted to be left alone." Skye explained now realizing the mess they got themselves into.

"Oh don't worry. We're not mad. In fact, we're all very impressed. Not only are you guys courageous but also truly innovative. The talent and skills that you've put into that prank….it's ingenious! We would like to invite you into our prestigious club."

"Yes, it's an elite group composed of the smartest and most talented cadets here in SciTech. We usually recruit 3rd years and up but we all agreed that you three are very much qualified." Another girl from Raina's group added.

"We call ourselves The Alphas!" Miles exclaimed.

"We're having a meeting tonight, I hope that you guys can make it." Raina handed Skye a small slip of paper before standing up and leading the group of seniors out of the boiler room.

When Raina left with the rest of her lackeys Skye looked at Leo and Jemma and asked, "Please tell me I'm not the only one creeped out by that."

"What are you talking about? Raina seemed nice and she invited us to join their club! The Alphas are the most exclusive and most popular group of students here at SciTech. Skye were popular!" Jemma exclaimed.

"I've never been popular before. We have to go!" Leo said just as excited as Jemma.

Skye knew that there is something that doesn't seem right about Raina's invitation. She remembers Clint telling her that when something is too good to be true, it usually is. He often told her to always rely on her instincts but looking at her friends' excitement she cannot bring it to herself to burst out their happiness.

_I guess I'll just have to keep a look out for any signs of trouble._

* * *

Skye is hanging out in her usual spot trying to finish up with the D.W.A.R.F.S. operating system. She had two open laptops in front of her, one runs the coding for the droids OS the other is for the software.

She's trying to finish up both her codes while listening to her music from her new StarkPhone, a gift from Tony Stark after she tried and failed to hack into JARVIS' system with a note that says _"Better luck next time kid"_.

Every once in a while she looks up looking for the mysterious man jogging on the Ops side of the River. And right on schedule he appeared. Skye observed his stature and he fits every description of an Ops student, big muscled and firm looking.

_"With a two digit IQ."_, according to Leo.

_Although even he doesn't seem bad looking_, Skye admitted. She cannot clearly see his face due to the distance but he's tall and has a body to die for. She highly doubts he'd be nearly as handsome as Grant.

She often thinks about him. She surprisingly missed his smile that melts her heart each time thought of him and the feeling of those cheekbones upon her lips when she kissed him. Skye didn't know what pushed her to do that but she didn't regret it.

_I wonder if he ever thinks about me. I highly doubt it. It would be a miracle if he even remembers me after that night. _

Skye wanted so much to ask for his number but she was too afraid. She doesn't like the feeling of having to constantly lie to him and she's scared she might reveal something about Shield and her connection to it. She cannot risk global safety for a passing fancy.

Looking back at the stranger, she wondered if he's just as bad as every SciTech students made them out to be. She knows tons of Shield Ops graduate turned SHIELD Agents to know that not all Ops graduate are brainless bullies. She spent nearly her whole life living with one Shield Ops graduate.

People aren't always what they seemed to be.

Which brought her back to Raina, she looked at the paper that was given to her. It stated the address and the time. Although her invitation seemed harmless and genuine enough there is something in her that tells Skye that she's not someone to be trusted.

Skye decided to find out more about flowergirl and hacked into their school database to retrieve her student files.

"Hmmm…top student. Major in Biology and Human Physiology. Blah blah blah…has massive interest in studying people in The Index. Blah blah blah…is aspiring to recreate a super soldier serum. Well, good luck with that." Skye knew that no other scientist succeed in recreating the Super Soldier Serum. In fact, the last person who attempted it became a Giant Green Rage Monster.

"Blah blah blah…Project Team Lead for the Centipede Project. Project halted by Director Ann Weaver. Hmm… I wonder what Centipede Project is all about?" Skye started hacking into the school database once again to find what the Project is about.

"Redacted? What do you mean the project is redacted?" Jemma asked

"It means that all data regarding the Centipede Project has been censored, for a lack of better word, by Nick Fury himself. Don't you think that's evidence enough that she could be a bad seed?"

"But Skye, Raina is one of SciTech's best students and every professor adores her. Not to mention that she's one of the most popular student here in SciTech! Why would you think she's a bad seed?" Jemma is starting to get frustrated in Skye's irrational attitude.

Don't get her wrong. She loves Skye and would do just about anything for her but she doesn't know what would lead Skye to assume the worst of someone, especially someone who showed nothing but kindness to them.

"Maybe the project was proven too advanced for a student?" Jemma argued.

"Too advance? This is coming from a school that specializes in advance technology? A school who tells their students that there are no limitations when it comes to knowledge? I highly doubt that! Can't you see Jemma? Raina cannot be trusted!"

"So what if one of her project is redacted by Shield, it doesn't necessarily meant that she's a bad seed. She's been nice enough to us, I'm going to their club meeting whether you like it or not!" Jemma took a deep breath and continued. "All my life I've been bullied and ridiculed. No one ever thinks I'm cool enough to join a clique. Would it be too much to ask for you to let me at least have this?" Jemma asked before walking out of their room.

_Why won't they believe her?_ Frustrated, Skye laid down her bed and groaned into her pillow.

* * *

"Are you sure we're in the right place? I think were lost." Jemma constant asking is already driving Skye on the road to insanity. After their fight, Skye immediately followed Jemma to make amends and agreed to come with them.

"I told you this is the place that was written on the paper Raina gave me."

"But it looks like an abandoned house in middle of nowhere." Leo commented.

"Well SciTech students transformed the Boiler Room into a student hangout. Maybe this is another establishment that SciTech students renovated." Jemma said but even she is starting to doubt her decision. _Maybe I shouldn't have insisted coming here and listened to Skye._

The three then jumped on the sound of knocking on the passenger window of the van and saw the grinning face of Raina outside. "Hey Guys! I'm so glad you made it! Come on, everyone is at the basement."

The two scientists followed her to the house but Skye still cautious, lingered for a few minutes to observe the surroundings. Raina opened the door that would lead to the dark basement of the abandoned house. "Well come on in! The others are waiting." She said and continued to walk down the stairs.

As soon as the three stepped down they were immediately surrounded for dozens of smirking seniors. Raina was in front of them all.

"Welcome! We are gathered here tonight to celebrate what an utter loser you three truly are. Did you honestly think that the small stunt you pulled would break a tradition that has been in SciTech for decades? And did you think that we would simply let it go unpunished?" She looked at each of them mockingly. "And to think you actually believed that we'll include you into our group. What a joke!" Cue Raina's evil smirk while the rest of the seniors behind her laughed.

"Well prepare to be disappointed. Cause what you three are about to experience for the rest of your miserable year is something worst than hell." Miles Lydon joined the evil bitch in-front.

"I think I peed my pants." Leo whispered.

Skye, although scared shitless, put on a brave face and asked them, "What are you going to do to us."

Raina grinned at her and said, "You'll see."

She nodded at the guys behind the three and before Skye could react she was tasered and left paralyzed.

Despite the pain Skye tried to maintain a clear head. She can feel someone tying her wrist and assumed that Leo and Jemma met the same fate as her. Soon she heard the group of seniors leaving before she heard a sound of the door being locked. She knew they're trapped inside this hellhole.

"How can someone who looks like a Disney Princess turn out to be so evil?" Asked Jemma, the three gaining back the control of their body. Skye reached out to the small knife inside the hidden compartment of her boots to free herself. She then cut free Leo's tied hands and handed him the knife to do the same to Jemma. She then left the two and dashed up the stairs and try out if the lock would budge. No such luck.

Skye tried kicking the door but still nothing. For a dilapidated looking house this door is proving to be sturdy.

"This is my entire fault." Jemma said looking at Skye, "You were right about Raina. I should have listened to you. I'm sorry."

"No it's not your fault. If anyone should be blamed for this, it's me. I was the one who insisted to prank them. You tried to stop me but I didn't listen. I'm sorry for getting you into this mess." Skye said as she slowly approached Jemma.

"No it wasn't your fault either. Besides I thoroughly enjoyed torturing them even if it was just for a night." Jemma said and Skye chuckled and embraced her best friend.

"Great! Now that we've established that you're both to be blamed here. How are we gonna get out of here?" Leo asked.


	9. Chapter 9

Melinda May was sleeping when she received a homing signal from Skye. It took a second for her to realize where the noise that woke her up is coming from and what it meant.

On Skye's first day in College she gave her a watch with a homing device attached to it. With a push of a button Skye can send May a homing signal from any parts of the world.

She got scared when she found out that the signal led to an abandoned house in an abandoned village. She can't help but think of every worst case scenario that's happening to her goddaughter.  
Coulson told her of Skye's 084 status, that's why she's become even more protective of her.

That was why May took out her motorbike at 2 am in the morning speeding down the road and possibly breaking every traffic laws.

May did not waste time kicking the door of the house open where the signal was coming from. With guns drawn she called out, "Skye! Where are you?"

"Aunt Mel! We're here at the basement!"

Melinda went rushing towards Skye's voice and saw the door leading to the basement bolted. "Step away from the door!" She yelled before channelling all her strength into kicking the door open.

As soon as the door busted open she was attacked by Skye's tight embrace.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She asked frantically inspecting the girl for any injuries.

"I'm fine." Skye assured the older woman.

"Good" Once May is sure that Skye's safe, the monster mom was unleashed. "What kind of mess did you put yourself into now young lady?! I swear to god if I have to keep off of NSA's wanted list again I will lock you up in a high tower with no wifi and -"

"Uhm…Ma'am it wasn't Skye's fault. We were locked up by a group of seniors for Freshmen Pranks." She was interrupted by squeamish curly haired boy on the corner. Due to her concern about Skye's safety she barely noticed the two fidgeting teens almost hidden in the corner of the dark room.

"Aunt Mel, these are my friends that's Jemma Simmons and Leopold Fitz." Skye introduced the two, glad for the distraction from May's scolding.

Melinda looked back at Skye and asked, "Freshmen Pranks? You made me panic and rush over here just because you were locked up by a couple of senior students? I told you that that bracelet is for emergency use only!"

"Well, I thought that this constitutes as emergency?" Skye fidgeted under the intense glare of her godmother.

Heaving a sigh, Agent Melinda May internally smacked her head. Despite her aggravation she's very much relieved that Skye's out of harm's way.

* * *

May watched the three teenagers devour their burgers, large bucket of French fries and milkshake. "How long have you three been locked in there and how exactly did this happen in the first place?"

"Well, apparently the Freshmen Pranks are a SciTech tradition. Each year graduating students pranks first years for the whole school year." Skye explained.

"We thought it would be a good idea to retaliate against them but it only angered them even more." Jemma continued.

"They invited us to to join their popular club to lure us into a trap. And we've been stuck in there for approximately 4 hours." Leo finished.

"Please don't tell dad." Skye practically begged. Who knows how much trouble Skye could get into once her father found out about her shenanigans. The last thing she wants is for her overprotective father to pull her out of the SciTech program.

"I won't tell your father but that doesn't mean that I'm condoning this. You three better fix this mess and don't try to rely on me for saving your ass again." May took Skye's wrist that holds her tracking device "And for the last time this is to be used for emergency purposes only. Understood?"

Skye nodded meekly not wanting to infuriate her godmother even more. "Finish up your food; I'm going to drive you three back to your dorms.

The moment May parked Skye's van in-front of the SciTech dorm her two friends jumped out of it wanting to get to the comfort of their own bed before they pass out from the days misadventures leaving Skye alone with her godmother.

"What do you plan on doing now?" Melinda asked the teenage girl as soon as her friends were gone.

"What do you mean?" Skye looked back at her godmother in confusion.

"Are you just going to let what they did to you and your friends go without any consequences? That's not the Skye I know. "

"You want me to retaliate? I thought you don't condone this type of childish behaviour?" She smirked

"I don't and as far as your father is concerned I was never here." May answered with mischief in her eyes.

"Well, we are pretty much doomed anyways. Might as well make it worth it." Skye's grin widened as she already had an idea what to do.

"That's my girl." May said proudly kissing Skye's forehead.

* * *

"You did what?!" Leo yelled at Skye.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Jemma exclaimed.

"We're already on top of Raina's hitlist so it's not like it would make much of a difference. Besides Raina's got no power over the other two Shied Academy Divisions. She'll never find out what I did." Skye smirked.

Grant Ward did a double take not sure what he is seeing. Shield Ops' Mess Hall, unlike the other two Shield Divisions, is usually quiet with only the sounds of the utensils and small chatters from some cadets.

Shield Ops cadets are known to be disciplined enough to follow the dining etiquette but not tonight. Students are clustered together into small groups laughing uproariously and talking animatedly to each other. He can see some commanders trying and failing to restore some semblance of order and control over the cadets' excitement.

He approached his own group of friends to find out why their school suddenly become an animal zoo.

"Hey Ward! Come over here and watch this!" Tripp yelled to be heard over the noise. He brought up his phone to show Ward a mash-up video of a group of people slipping on the floor and being pelted by paint-balls with a ridiculous robotic sounding music playing on its background.

"What is this?"

"Apparently this is prank of a group of SciTech freshmen against their senior class." Bobby explained. "This viral video was sent to every Shield Academy students including Ops and Comms a few hours ago. Didn't you receive the same message?" She asked.

"My phone's broken, still haven't had a chance on getting it fixed. Aren't you worried that some student has hacked into your phones?"

"Nope. Come on man, lighten up. It's just a harmless video message. Worst thing these nerds could do to us is to spread Hunter's nude photos in the web." Tripp said.

"Hey!" Hunter exclaimed smacking Tripp in the head.

_Why am I friends with these idiots again?, _Ward asked himself for the millionth time.


	10. Chapter 10

"Here is your phone. All fixed. That'll be $50 please. " A SciTech nerd said as he handed Grant Ward his phone back.

"$40 and no more" Grant said intimidating the guy and smirked internally when he saw him tremble.

"$45?" The poor kid stuttered in the hopes to bargain the pricing. SciTech students are very reliable in fixing any type of technology given to them and they're a pushover and easy to intimidate which makes it easy to haggle down the payment.

"I said $40 and no more." Grant said handing over the money and walked away from the scared kid. Not a second later after opening his phone it rang.

"What the fuck do you want?" He rudely answered. A call from his father was the only thing that could ruin his day.

There are no words that could describe Grant Ward's hatred towards his family. His father is an abusive asshole who thinks he's god's gift to the world, his mother is a drunken bitch who's as vain as Narcissus himself while his older brother is simply a special mix of both who loves to bully his younger siblings.

In fact the only people he cared about in his family are his younger siblings whom he does everything to protect from his abusive family and Gramsy, the only person who truly cared about him and loved him.

"Shut up you ungrateful brat! I'm hosting a thanksgiving party here. The elections are coming up and I want to show an image of a happy family for the supporters to make sure that they fund my campaign. So you better bring your stupid ungrateful ass home." And with that his father ended the call leaving him unable to say no.

* * *

Grant Ward has been beating the shit out of the punching bag for more than an hour now. His knuckles are sore and he's sure that they're bruised and swollen but he ignored the pain and continued on punching.

The phone call from his father left him in a foul mood all day. He knows that he had no choice but to come home only to protect his younger siblings. They usually spend their vacation at Gramsy's house in London where Grant visited them when his schedule allows him to.

When Grant was shipped off by his father to the military school, he immediately enrolled his siblings in a boarding school in London miles away from his house. That way, even if he cannot protect them from his family personally while he was away but he can put a large distance between his siblings and their father.

His grandmother was ecstatic at the idea; his useless father welcomed the idea if it meant one less brat under his roof while his mother couldn't care less. His older brother would have been opposed to it if he wasn't too busy getting high with his fraternity.

But despite that he is sure that his scumbag of a father would not hesitate to drag them out of their boarding school kicking and screaming as they are the only thing that his father can hold over Grant.

They're his only weakness and his father knows how to use them to manipulate him into doing his bidding.

Grant was shipped off to a military school the first time he fought back against his older brother's abuse. Grant had beaten his brother, Christian, to a bloody pulp. Of course, with Christian being his father's golden boy, beating him up pretty much meant that Grant had signed away his life to hell. At least that was what he first thought. Being enrolled to a Military Academy had been a blessing in disguise for Grant as this is where SHIELD first discovered him. He supposed he had Christian to thank for that.

Grant took a short water break and flexed his aching knuckles before going back in-front of the punching bag and start beating it once again imagining it's his father's face.

Antoine Triplett silently observed his friend beating the crap out f the punching bag. This isn't the first time that Grant was in his destructive mood and Tripp learned that it's best to leave him alone until he calms down the hard way. The first time he saw his friend act same way he received a black-eye when he tried to stop him.

_It won't be long now, _He thought as he watches Grant's shoulder slump and his punches getting slower, weaker and sloppier. Finally Grant stopped and faced his waiting friend. He nodded his thanks as Tripp handed him his water bottle and a dry towel.

"Wanna talk about it?" Tripp asked but he had a pretty good guess.

"My father called. He wants me to come home for thanksgiving." He answered resentment clear from his tone.

Tripp nodded in understanding, he is the only person that knew, albeit by accident, about Wards family dynamics and Grant knows he can trust him. Tripp met Grant's father one time but that was enough to see the monster that hid behind the charming smile he shows to the world. He cannot fully blamed Grant for despising the man so thoroughly.

* * *

For Skye, nothing is scarier than seeing her father's name in the caller ID in the middle of the day.  
All phone calls from her father usually happened during the evening when all her classes are over and when he's sure that she's not busy doing her assignments. She knows her Aunt would never sell her out but being one of the high level agents in SHIELD, she knew it wouldn't be long until he gets to hear a word about her shenanigans.

She hesitantly answered the phone but out of panic she hurriedly babbled without taking a breath "I didn't do it and even if I did, which I didn't, it wasn't my fault because they started it."

"What? I didn't- what did you do now?", her father's stern voice did nothing to calm her down.

"Uhm…Nothing." Skye answered smacking her head for her stupidity.

"Uh huh, sure." He said unconvinced "- Well I just called to check if you're inviting guest over for Thanksgiving."

"Oh." Skye's been so busy with her studies and trying to dodge any pranks from Raina and her goons she didn't realised that it was nearing Thanksgiving break. "I haven't asked my friends yet. Why?"

"I'm making a grocery list and I want a complete head count on who's coming for dinner. Call me when you're having a guest over and tell me if they have a special diet or something so I can add it up in the list. Okay?"

"Okay. But wait –" Skye added before her father ended the call "aren't curious as to what I did?"

"I think I have a pretty good idea. Bye sweetheart." Phil replied before ending the call.

* * *

"Another team of Agents has been kidnapped." Agent Hill reported to her Superior who's back is turned away from her obviously deep in thought.

This had been the third kidnapping since Agent Amador's team.

"How many this time?", he asked.

"4 Agents. All level 5 and up."

"Call a meeting with all Shield's Mission Controller, immediately." Fury instructed to the woman behind him.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

The meeting was a commotion.

"How come you have only told us about this, now?!", an irate John Garrett bellowed slamming the table.

"I agree with Agent Garrett. Agent Amador was one of my protégé. I should have been informed of her disappearance.", Phil added. He hardly questions Fury's decision but this is a personal matter. Akela was more than just his protégé, she was like a daughter to him.

Akela was young girl who grew up with her single mother and two rambunctious younger brothers. Her mother was a local middle school teacher widowed; her father was killed while serving. Following her father's footsteps, she enlisted in the army right after graduating. She served for 6 years before she was released from active duty.

He met her at the airport right after she got off the plane. He, along with some other SHIELD Agents, was at the airport scouting possible new recruits. There were a lot of military men and women who seemed fit to be a SHIELD Agent but this very girl stood out.

There at the airport was frantic Korean mother looking for her missing twin daughters. While all her comrades ignored the woman in their excitement to get back home to their waiting families, Akela did not hesitate to stop and help her despite the communication gap.

The bus that was supposed to drive her back home left without her and she doesn't care one bit as long as she was able to bring two girls back to their mother safely. Coulson then knew then that she's exactly the type of woman who will stand by SHIELD's code of caring and protection.

"We had no reason to believe that these kidnappers were targeting us directly. At least not until the second kidnapping. It's too much too similar to be just a coincidence, and we never believed in coincidence." Agent Hill explained to the group.

"I still don't understand! Fury, you should never have kept this vital information from us. All our field agents are at an even more risk every time we dispatch them for a mission." Agent Garrett countered. "Hell, even we could be in danger."

Granted, all Shield agents are always in danger each time they were sent out to a mission but Garrett had a point. Someone is targeting them. For what reason exactly, no one knows. At this point they are in more danger than they used to.

Agent Hand, the only person in the meeting who remained calm, asked the most obvious question "Are there any leads in finding these missing agents? A suspect, maybe? Any clue as to what the motive for the kidnappings?"

"None. All crime scenes are blown to dust. No salvageable evidence left." Agent Hill replied.

"Sir, what are your orders? How do we prevent this from happening again?" Agent Jefferson, the mission controller officer whose team was recently kidnapped, addressed Fury directly.

"Yeah, we can't afford to lose anymore of our agents." Agent Adams added.

Fury, who remained silent the entire meeting suddenly spoke up, "The only thing we can do for now is to keep an eye on everyone's back. And most importantly, always keep an eye on your surroundings. We don't know want to be caught unprepared again."


	11. Chapter 11

"Do any of you have any snacks? I'm feeling a bit peckish." Leo asked from back seat of Skye's van.

"Gosh I wish these radio stations stop playing the same songs over and over again." Jemma complained while she abused the channel knob of her car radio from the front seat.

_Maybe bringing them in a road trip back home for thanksgiving is not such a good idea. _She thought.

Skye was so excited at first when her friends agreed to join her and her family for Thanksgiving break but after suffering from 3 hours of annoying complaints she's starting to regret ever inviting them.

Soon Skye gave up trying to ignore the two as it's only worsening her growing headache. "Here's my iPod there's like hundred of music downloaded in there. Enjoy." She said throwing her iPod to Jemma. "And here's some Goo Goo Clusters -" she threw the candy towards Leo "- and were only roughly 20 minutes from the nearest town I'm we can find a fast food joint there."

_That'll shut them up for a few minutes. _She thought as she continued to drive back home.

"But I hate Goo Goo Clusters." Leo complained.

_Arrrgghhhh!_

* * *

"Dad I'm home!" Skye announced as soon as she entered her house.

"I'm in the garage." He called back.

Skye and her friends entered the garage only to see him carefully waxing Lola, his red Chevrolet Corvette.

"Hey Skye. I'm happy to see you home. I've missed you sweetheart." Phil left his car to embrace his daughter.

"I've missed you too dad." She said returning his hug. "By the way these are my friends Jemma Simmons and Leopold Fitz." She introduced them "and this balding guy right his is my dad."

"It's an honour to meet you Agent Coulson, Sir." Leo smiled feeling giddy to finally meet the one and only Phil Coulson.

"No need for formalities. You guys can call me Phil." Shaking both kids waiting hands.

"I hope you three are hungry cause I made spaghetti and fried chicken for dinner." Phil said leading the way to the dining area.

* * *

"Well, well, well. The prodigal son has returned." Grant's smirking older brother greeted him at the door of his childhood purgatory. Like always he dutifully ignored him and walked inside and went straight to his childhood bedroom slamming the door shut.

"It's just for week." He mumbled giving himself a pep talk. After the dinner he can take his siblings on the first flight to England back to the safety of his grandmother home.

His sister Bethany will be arriving tomorrow and his brother Thomas the day after. Grant made sure to arrive earlier than them as to not give his brother an opportunity to abuse them.

Christian would never admit it but he is somewhat afraid of Grant since the day that he set their family's vacation log cabin on fire with him still inside. Christian begged his father to have him imprisoned but not even his golden boy status can beat his father's own vanity. Luckily for Grant, it was nearing the Election Day and a bad rep from the press was the last thing his father needed. His father made sure that the media would never get a hold on the incident.

Three weeks later after the incident he was recruited by SHIELD because of his ability to get in and out of the military academy without being detected. They said that if he put his skills to good use he could very well be one of the top Shield espionage.

As far as his family was concerned, Grant was officially recruited by the military to be trained as an Elite task force. It was a cover created by Agent Coulson, his recruiter, himself. His father was ecstatic after learning the news, thinking that he managed to straighten the black sheep of the family. To him, having a son who serves the country boosts his own image to the public.

Agent Coulson is one of the top ranking shield agents and was considered as Nick Fury's right hand man. He can still remember the day his life turned a 180 degrees.

_Ward was worried about his younger brother's safety when he found out that his father was taking both Christian and Thomas out to their vacation cabin in Florida. His father wanted to give the press a doting fatherly image of him and gain the voters support which led him to bring his two sons fishing. He knows that without him to shield Thomas, he'll most likely be a target to Christian's wrath._

_His suspicion proved right when he found out that Thomas was hospitalized when he "accidentally" fell off their motor boat and drowned in the lake. Ward was so pissed that he quickly escaped from the Military School and took the bus to Everglades._

_To prevent his father from bringing Thomas to this godforsaken log cabin again, Ward set it of fire not knowing his brother was inside. When he heard Christian's screams for help he didn't hesitate to break down the door and save him from the blazing house._

_Coughing, Christian tried to thank the man who saved him but paused when he realized who it was "Grant? What are you doing here? You should be- Oh!" He pushed his brother away from him and yelled "You did this didn't you! You tried to kill me!"_

_Christian then begged their father to have Grant tried as an adult and receive a death sentence for his attempted murder. But lucky for Grant the elections are coming up and the last thing he needs is bad press of having a murderous son so instead he cleaned up the mess and made the fire look like an accident. He ensured that no one besides the three of them knows of the incident._

_Grant went back to the military school with none the wiser._

_Three weeks later a man in a black suit and tie resembling an MIB agent approached him and asked him "Hello Grant Ward. How would you like to help save the world?"_

_"Are you high?" Grant asked this weirdo who came out of nowhere. Who in their right mind would randomly approach a teenager and ask him to save the world?_

_"I came from a secret intelligence agency that specialized in espionage and counter terrorism. I've read your records high average GPA, athletic build, can think fast on his feet. That and with the ability to get in and out of a highly secured military school, I can definitely say that you have the qualities of a good SHIELD Agent."_

Since that day, Grant has aspired to be just like the man who recruited him to become a SHIELD Agent.

* * *

Jemma would be sharing Skye's room while Leo would be using the guest bedroom. After dinner the three went to their respective rooms to unpack what little belongings they brought for the week long break.

Soon afterwards the three congregated at the living room all in their pajamas with a bowl of popcorn, Doritos and cans of soda ready for their Harry Potter marathon.

"I don't really think it's fair for Slytherins that Dumbledore gave the Gryffindors these last minute points." Jemma said as the credit scene of the first movie played.

"Well, they did save the school from Voldemort." Leo argued back.

"So what do you guys want to do tomorrow?" Skye asked popping the second movie inside the DVD player.

"I don't know. Maybe we can go to the mall that we passed by on our way here or something." Jemma suggested.

"But I don't wanna watch you two go shopping. " Leo whined "Can we do something else that doesn't involve me walking for hours carrying your shopping bags?"

"I saw a sign of an amusement park 2 miles from here. Are you guys into that?" Skye suggested and both agreed.

* * *

"Bethany! Over here." Grant Ward was at the airport's waiting area waving his hands to call his sister's attention.

"Grant!" Bethany yelled jumping into his favourite brothers waiting arms. Grant in turn lifted her up and twirled her around, making her squeal in delight.

"I've missed you so much pumpkin." If there is a bright side on this circumstance it would be spending time with his younger siblings.

"I told you to stop calling me that! I'm 14 now, I'm not a baby anymore." His sister whined.

"Oh pumpkin, you can be 60 and you'd still be my baby sister." Grant replied messing with her hair and then grabbed her bag leading her out of the airport and into his car.

Bethany was riding shotgun telling her brother everything that has happened to her in school. She was in the middle of telling her brother about her time glee club when she was distracted by a sign board of an amusement park.

"Grant look! Can we go there? Please?" She asked giving him her best puppy-dog face that she knows he can't resist.

"Sure." She began cheering but was stopped by his brother by saying "Later after you get home and take a nap."

"But -" she tried to argue but was again cut off by her brother.

"No buts. You'll need to rest first and unpack your stuff." Grant smirked at his sister's pouting face.


	12. Chapter 12

When Phil came downstairs to start making breakfast he was greeted by the sight of three teenagers all cuddled up together in the sofa. Bowls with popcorn kernels, empty wrappers of chips and cans of sodas scattered all over, the TV and DVD player left open.

It brought Phil back to when Skye was a young girl and she would host a sleepover party inviting all the kids in the neighborhood. Oh how time seemed to pass by so fast. It wouldn't be long until Skye would set off making her own mark in the world.

He silently cleaned up their mess to not disturb their sleep and covered them in a blanket before he proceeded to the kitchen turned on the coffee maker.

Phil had just finished frying some bacon and eggs when he heard the three starting to wake up. A few minutes later they all entered the kitchen still clad in their pajamas.

"Good morning!" Phil cheerily greeted the three groggy teenagers. He silently chuckled behind his coffee when they all mumbled incomprehensibly. He placed the food on the breakfast table and silently observed the three.

Like clockwork, Skye went straight to the pantry and grabbed three mugs before placing two of it on the breakfast table in front of her still barely awake friends. She then went back to the pantry and grabbed a box of Melinda's favorite tea and threw it at across the kitchen smacking a snoozing Leo in the head.

"Ouch. That hurt." Leo cried out rubbing his head while Jemma picked up the box that bounced from Leo's head and landed at the floor. She then took out two tea bags and placed them on each mugs.

Skye, ignoring her friend, started on heating water for her friend's tea before she proceeded on making her own coffee before going to sit in her usual place on the breakfast table and began eating. As soon as the kettle whistled, Jemma stood up to take the boiling water to make her and Leo's tea before going back to her breakfast.

Skye remained silent over breakfast tuning out her father and friends mindless morning chatter; she was never a morning person even as a child. You have to wait until she finished her early morning cup of coffee before you can get a decent answer from her. Phil, and her two friends, who had gotten used to her zombie like state every morning simply let her be.

"So what are your plans today?" Phil asked.

"We plan on going to that an amusement park later in the afternoon." Jemma answered after taking a bite off her bacon.

"I see. Do you guys mind cleaning up? I have a few errands to run at the base." He asked grabbing his plate and put it on the sink.

"Not at all, Sir. It's the least we could do for inviting us here." Jemma happily volunteered grabbing the other plates and placed them on the sink. "Fitz, I wash you dry" she demanded throwing the dish rag onto his head.

"What is it with people throwing things at my head?" He whined and grudgingly stood up to follow Simmons orders.

Phil watched amused at the two bicker back and forth before he turned to Skye "I'll be back in a few hours. You guys enjoy yourselves and be safe." He instructed kissing her hair before leaving.

"You too." Skye smiled at him and watched her father leave.

* * *

"So, what is this urgent meeting about? I left a really good Dim Sum in my office that's about to get cold." Phil jokingly said as he sat in-front of Agent Hill's desk. There really is a good Dim Sum waiting to be eaten. Hopefully soon, before it gets cold.

"Coulson, there has been a reported sighting of Agent Amador." Agent Hill began.

"Where?" he immediately stood up from his seat already setting up a rescue plans in his mind.

"There had been reports of multi-billion dollar heists in different parts of the world. I've sent agents to look at the most recent crime scene in Stockholm and we recovered this." Hill opened a program showing a surveillance video of a group of men in a red mask. Behind the men was a blurry picture of Agent Amador, who appeared to be unharmed.

"We believe that she orchestrated these heists." Phil's face paled at Agent Hill's declaration.

He doesn't believe this. He can't. He knows Akela is not capable of betraying SHIELD.

There has got to be a reason behind this.

"I'll take the case." He declared.

Agent Hill was hesitant to give him this case for a lot of reason. He's qualified with high mission success rate but his personal feelings may obscure his judgement in this one. She never planned to put him on this case, she only told him about this out of courtesy. Unlike most Supervising Officers, Coulson treats all of his cadets like his own. His agents were his family.

"Please, I have to know." He begged her.

"I'm really sorry Coulson." She apologized.

* * *

_Can I sleep now?_ Akela wrote on the complimentary stationery of the hotel she's staying in for the night. She sat down waiting for their next instructions and a few seconds later the word Yes appeared behind her left eyelid.

She went through her usual bedtime routine before lying on the comfortable queen sized bed. She closed her eyes trying not to succumb to sleep despite her exhaustion.

Instead she waited.

She left more than enough breadcrumbs behind for SHIELD to trail her.

She strategically but subtly positioned herself to be caught on the security camera for a split-second knowing that's enough time for SHIELD to find her profile. If everything went according to plan, they'd be here in Belarus right about now trying to track her down.

She only has a few hours before she needs to "wake up" and finish her job here. Enough time for them to find her so that she can warn them of her captor's plans.

She had to stop this.

She hoped beyond hope that they'll send her past S.O. instead of someone with and itching finger on a trigger.

Coulson knows her. She knows he'll listen to her and she knows he'll understand. He won't condemn her for the crimes she was forced to do for them…even if she condemned herself every single second for it.

She waited for hours but eventually gave up hope and let herself drift off to sleep. She woke up when she felt someone staring at her. But she knew that she wasn't in danger. Not yet at least.

"I'm glad they sent you." She told him now fully conscious but never moving from her position, she needs to keep pretending to still be asleep and kept her x-ray eyes away from him.

She doesn't want them to know of Coulson's presence and be forced to kill her mentor and she doesn't want them to push the kill-switch either. Not until she warned them of whom they're dealing with.

"They didn't." Phil told her "They don't know I'm here. Hill sent Agent Dela Vega and her team but I kept them off your scent."

"Why?" She asked him.

"Because I know you. And I also know that you wanted us to find you. Now start talking."

"The mission was a trap." Akela started, remembering that horrifying day "We tried to fight them but we're outnumbered. We tried to escape them, lost my eye in the process."

"What did they do to you?"

"They're using us as their lab-rat. I don't know exactly what kind of experiment they're doing. All I know is that they'll take one agent to their lab and after a day or two I see them cart off their burned corpse. They've already killed 3 agents before they experimented on me. I thought they're gonna do to me what they've done to them but instead they replaced my blinded eye with a robotic eye. They're using it to control me."

"Control you? How?"

"I don't know. They sent me this messages, or instructions in front of my eye. I just have to complete them or else they'll activate the kill switch. They told me that this would be my last mission; they want me to retrieve something from a secret government facility in Minsk. I just wanted to warn you about their plans."

"Who are they?"

"They call themselves The Centipede. The woman that's been experimenting on us, they call her Dr. Debbie. She's always on a phone with another person and they're always talking about a man, the leader of the organization, they call him The Clairvoyant."

"You should come with me. Shield will -"

"I can't." she interrupted him."I'm sorry, I didn't plan for it to get this far. I didn't mean to kill anybody. Please tell my mom and my brothers that I love them." She finally opened her tearful eyes and look directly at him. A second later her implant exploded killing her in the process.


	13. Chapter 13

Skye received a call from her father telling her that there had been an emergency that needs his immediate attention. He had to fly overseas and won't be back until tomorrow night.

Although disheartened, Skye understood. This wasn't the first time that her father had to leave her to go on a mission, usually she would stay at Aunt Mel's and sometimes she had Nat or Clint to accompany her until her father gets home.

It wasn't such a big deal, the only problem was that neither she nor FitzSimmons, a name she started calling them, have any culinary skills beside sandwich making so she doesn't know how they'll survive two days without her father.

It's almost lunch time and Jemma volunteered to make them spaghetti. "It should be easy. It's just like chemistry and I'm good with chemistry." She said but how wrong was she. One burned pasta and weird looking sauce later she finally gave up trying and threw the cookbook across the room.

"So who's up for Chipotle?" She asked and both Skye and Fitz raised their hands.

* * *

The 3 all decided to go straight to the amusement park right after their lunch, so as soon as they were done eating, they all went to Skye's van and drove off not noticing a bubbly blonde girl dragging her older brother, a tall dark haired man out of the same restaurant they came from.

Bethany talked non-stop the entire lunch time and the whole car ride about all the rides she planned on riding. Eyes sparkling from excitement she squealed when she saw a glimpse of a tall Ferris wheel, a sign that they're near.

Grant Ward, a heavily muscled 6 footer man trained to kill with just his bare fist, is being literally dragged by a 4 footer 12 year girl to every rides she sees. He unblinkingly followed her every demands and every whim.

When she asked him to win her a stuff toy from the rigged games, he won her four of the biggest stuff toys they had. He was trying to get another one until the staff banned him from playing another game.

When she asked him to join her in a Princess themed ride, he did...twice, even if he's being gawked at by some giggling teenagers and even by some moms. One mother even tried to get his number.

Now he's walking back, balancing 2 hotdog sandwiches and soda cans in his hand towards the long queue for the park's biggest and fastest roller coaster, The Black Curse.

"Here you go." he said handing one of the sandwiches to his sister who stayed to save their spot in the line.

"Did you know that this roller coasters' speed is like around 85 miles per hour?" She announced to him excitedly before taking a bite off her sandwich.

"Really now? Where did you learn about that?" he asked wiping the mustard off her chin.

"I overheard a group of friends calculating it on the spot." She told him before taking another mouthful. "They also calculated the time before they get to ride the roller coaster and they said it's going to take them 15 minutes before they get their turn. And guess what Grant, were standing on the very same spot they were previously standing on so that means we're 15 minutes away from getting our turn!"

Grant chuckled at the ridiculousness of his sister. Only she gets excited over the idea of waiting in line for 15 more minutes.

Bethany is truly a ray of sunshine in Grant Ward's life. She's energetic, gregarious, bubbly and optimistic. A complete opposite of him, unlike him her innocence remained untainted. An innocence that Grant will risk his life to protect.

* * *

"But I don't know how. Maybe I should just sit this one out and cheer for you." Bethany nervously played with her shiny blond hair while she let her older brother fix her chest protector for her.

"You'll be fine, I'll be with you the whole time I promise" Grant assured his sister and handed her helmet to wear.

Grant looked around the paintball range. He counted 10 players in total, 2 teenage boys who were roughhousing before the game start, a couple who has no idea on how to fix their own gears and a woman who's assisting them with it, 3 more people who looked to be an expert in the game. They're someone whom Grant need to watch out for.

"Why am I doing this?" Jemma groaned his voice muffled by the helmet she's wearing.

"Because you're my friend and you love me? Also because you lost the bet and now has to do what I want." Skye replied.

"Then why am I here? I've already experienced being shot at to know that I don't want to do it again leisurely." Leo demanded.

"Because you're my friend and I need moral support, also because you're the one who convinced me to take the bet." Jemma replied.

"I hate you both." He grumbled receiving a beaming smile from his so called friends.

"Okay, be quiet and follow my lead." Skye whispered to them but as soon the horn blasted to start the game Jemma squealed in fright and run away from them blindly shooting at whatever was in-front of her. Leo tried to run after her but ended by being shot at by Jemma herself. Although Jemma made a complete spectacle of herself, she did manage to shoot at another player, beside Fitz ofcourse, before someone shot her.

3 players were out and only 7 remained.

It was easy for Skye to dispatch two more players, two teenage boys who's making too much of a ruckus making it easy to locate them before she moved on to the west side of the field.

She saw another player's shadow stealthily moving around the field, she was lining her shot when another player beat her to it. Based on the angle where the paint capsule came from, the shooter is only a few blocks away from her.

Spying a small rock nearby, Skye picked it up and threw it across the field hitting a metal tank to create a diversion.

Soon she saw a tall man go silently tiptoeing to where the noise came from. Skye followed him and used his momentary distraction and shot him by his side 4 times while his back was still turned to her.

"You should be more aware of your surroundings." Skye mocked him; sure that she had this in the bag. Not a minute later she felt 3 paintballs being shot at her back.

"I did it! I won!" the girl cheered from behind her. Skye turned back to see the little girl responsible for her lose remove her helmet throwing it and her gun to the floor and run towards the tall man.

The man lifted her up and proudly said "Great job, pumpkin!"

"You set me up. You used yourself as bait so that she can shoot me didn't you." Skye accused the man whose face is still hidden by the helmet.

"Maybe you should be more aware of your surroundings." He retorted taking off his helmet.

Huffing, Skye took off her own helmet ready to give the guy a piece of her mind but stopped when she saw someone she never thought she'd see again.

"Grant?"

"Skye?"


	14. Chapter 14

A moment ago Grant was sneaking up behind the metal tank where he heard a clang ready to dispatch the last of his assailants only to realize that he had been outsmarted. Granted he might have underestimated them but as soon as he realized his mistake he quickly turned back around, unfortunately he wasn't quick enough and was shot 4 times on his side.

"Fuck" he quietly cursed himself. Having a civilian outsmart an agent in training like him definitely bruised his ego.

But he eventually smirk when the girl started gloating completely unaware of his sister sneaking up behind her. He proudly watched his sister shakily pointed her paintball gun and pulled the trigger. Her aim was horrid but having 3 out of the 11 capsules that was released hit their mark was good enough for him.

"I did it!" His sister exclaimed jumping in place before running up to him. He was so proud of her, he might need to teach her how to properly shoot a gun later though.

"You set me up. You used yourself as bait so that she can shoot me didn't you." He completely forgot the presence of the girl that shot him and based on her tensed body language she was not happy.

"Maybe you should be more aware of your surroundings." he mocked her with her own sneering words. He removed his helmet ready to leave and celebrate with his sister when he hear his name called.

"Grant?"

"Skye?" To say that Grant Ward is shocked is the understatement of the century. He was cemented on his spot not knowing what to do or say and it seemed like Skye felt the same.

Bethany looked back and forth at her brother and the strange girl eyeing each other. They looked like they've seen a ghost and it made her curious as to what history the two may have had.

Smiling mischievously she walked up to Skye introducing herself "Hi I'm Bethany!"

Skye looked down at the bubbly blond girl in-front of her.

"Skye" she said shaking the little girl's outstretched hand.

"Are you my brother's girlfriend?" Bethany asked the beautiful young woman she shot earlier.

Her brother told her to stay where she's hiding so that he could investigate but she saw her following after him not long after. She knew instantly that it was a trap so when the woman shot her brother she pointed her own gun at her, closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. She was so happy when she saw that she successfully hit her behind her back.

"Uh…no." Skye stammered blushing profusely.

"Do you want to be?"

"Bethany!" Grant scolded her, his own cheeks getting redder.

Ignoring her brother's protest she continued "Do you wanna join us for dinner?"

"I would love to but I'm actually here with my friends." She smiled at her apologetically. Sure enough she saw two people approaching them, or rather approaching Skye.

"Hey Skye, who's this?" Jemma asked looking at them warily.

"Guys this is Grant Ward and his sister Bethany. These are my friends Jemma and Leo." She introduced them still feeling shocked at seeing Grant Ward again. She feels as if she has hundreds of butterflies nested in her stomach as soon as their eyes met.

"They can come too, right Grant?" Bethany looked up her brother with her puppy dog eyes that she knows he can't resist. She sees how taken his brother was with Skye and she wanted to help him along. Grant is good in a lot of things but getting a date is not one of them.

Grant whose attention had been solely on Skye's face took a while to comprehend his sister's question. Once he did, he immediately agreed and looked directly at Skye saying "We would love for all of you to join us for dinner."

"Great! There's a restaurant right outside. Come on I'm starving." Bethany announced leading the group out.

* * *

"Is he your boyfriend?" Leo whispered to her ear as soon as Bethany, followed by Grant, was a few distance away from them.

"Are you dating him?" Jemma softly asked.

"No." She hissed at them.

"Guys come on!" Bethany yelled at them and soon they started following them to the restaurant that Bethany is leading them to.

Still a few feet away from the two siblings, FitzSimmons continued to interrogate Skye sandwiching her between them.

"Who's he?" "How did you met?" "Why aren't you dating him?"

"Stop! Okay?" Skye snapped at them."We only met once. Remember the guy I told you about Jemma?"

"Hottie McJawline?" Jemma's eyes popped out in recognition while Leo's confused faced remain. Skye had told her once about a really hot guy she met on her way to Scitech. A man that, no matter what Skye does, she can never seem to forget.

"Oh my gosh, Skye! This is fate! It's Destiny! The cosmos are literally giving you a second chance!" Jemma clapped her hands jumping in place.

"Can somebody please fill me out here?" Leo grunted.

* * *

Silence.

Skye imagined her unexpected reunion with Grant Ward, it's usually in a cliche setting like bumping into each other in a coffee shop or vacationing in the same beach or her personal favorite running into each other again at the same diner where they first meet. Where ever or however their reunion takes place, it usually ends in him asking for her number and maybe even an official date. They would be laughing so much and never run out of thing to talk about. They would never have wanted for the day to end.

Instead she got silence. Complete. Awkward. Silence.

Neither Skye nor Grant knows what to say to each other. And Grant staring at her like he'd seen a ghost is not helping calm her nerves. Neither is the giddy grin his sister is sporting.

Sure the reality is more interesting than any of the chance meeting her imagination can come up with. Not every woman can say that they shot guy of her dreams, yes she literally dreamt about him multiple times, before she got shot by his sister.

A vibration from her phone gave her a momentary distraction. She hurriedly opened a message she received from Jemma who was sitting beside her.

**_Hottie McJawline is looking at you as if he wants to devour you. -J_**

**_He doesn't want to devour me...does he? -S_**

Skye subtly peeked at Ward and saw his intense brown eyes is still locked on her. Okay fine, maybe she has a point.

**_Is that a bad thing? -S_**

**_Not really. But this is a family restaurant. I don't think the management would appreciate it if you two start snogging. -J_**

Skye glared at her smirking friend.

* * *

Grant was useless. Completely utterly useless.

Bethany knew she had to take charge in order for her brother to get a date with Skye.

She started by making small talk with Skye and her friends hoping that her brother would join in. Instead he chooses to stay silent the entire time besides the one worded answers when she directed a question at him.

It's a shame really, Bethany liked Skye and her friends, they were all nice and friendly. They never talked down on her like she's some stupid kid not worth their time. She loved Jemma most especially; they talked non-stop about their favorite places in England. She even promised to visit her at her boarding school and take her to her favourite museums in London.

Anyways, they have already finished their dessert and Grant still hasn't uttered a single word. Standing up she announced "I'm going to the lavatory!" and looked pleadingly at Jemma willing her to understand her intention.

Perking up Jemma quickly stated "I'll come with you."

Jemma then turned to Fitz who was finishing up that last bite of the strawberry shortcake he ordered "Fitz, why don't you come and join us?"

"Why?" he asked clueless.

"Because I said so." Jemma commanded and dragged him from his seat leaving Skye alone with Grant Ward.

They sat there staring at each other neither is sure what to say. Skye fidgeted with her napkin while Grant looks tense.

"So...how have you been?" Grant awkwardly asked having no idea how to start a conversation.

"Good. You?"

"Good."

Silence fell upon them again neither knows how to start up a conversation.

"You know what they're up to, don't you?" Skye observed.

He huffed laugh "I got a pretty good idea."

He chuckled at the absurdity of the situation and soon Skye joined him.

"I sometimes hope that we'll meet again but this is not how I imagined it would happen." Skye laughingly stated.

"You imagined us to meeting again?" Grant asked disbelievingly but glad to find out that he's not the only one.

"Well, your jawline is hard to forget." Skye joked back trying to cover up her embarrassment.

"You're hard to forget too." He confessed. "In fact, ever since that night I can't stop thinking about you. I mentally kicked myself for not trying hard enough to get to know you better. Or at least get your number. I often imagined what it would be like if I did."

Grant looked away embarrassed and Skye didn't know how to respond. There is a good reason why Grant never bothered to ask for her number. If circumstances are different, if he wasn't recruited by SHIELD to train as an espionage maybe he would have asked her out on that very night he met her and maybe even pursued a relationship with her. He wonders what would happen if he just stop being rational and asked her out on an official date, it's not every day that a person would get a second chance and it would be a shame if he just throw it out.

Skye was feeling giddy after hearing Grant Ward's confession. She never imagined that that night made as much impact on his life as much as it did hers. She tried so much to forget the silly little crush she garnered from the short time they spent together but no matter what she does he'll always find his way into her thoughts. It's stupid for she hardly knows the guy. She wanted so much to know him and he to know her but she knows it's too dangerous for both of them.

With all the secrets and the risks of it blowing up in their faces, is it worth to take the chance?


	15. Chapter 15

Grant looked nervous which is weird given that Bethany never, in her whole life, had seen her brother this nervous. And Skye wasn't faring any better. Their entire body language screams their awkwardness towards each other. But it also screamed a hidden sexual tension between the two.

She hoped that giving the two the privacy that they needed would somehow ease the tension between them. Her brother hates to be crowded; she hoped that leaving them alone would give him comfort and boost of confidence he needs to finally ask Skye out.

"They're just staring. Why are they just staring? Do something!" Jemma groaned as she watched her friend behind a wall.

"No wait they're laughing. Do you guys know what they're laughing about?" Bethany asked her, oh how she wish she has her brother's ability to lip read. "Do you think he'll ask her out?"

"I hope so." Leo grumbled annoyed. He can't believe he's stuck hiding while this two are playing cupid. He'd really rather be back at their table where his favourite cake is calling his name.

"Oh, Fitz. Could you please stop whining?" Jemma asked exasperatedly. She knows Fitz had a bit of a crush on her best friend since she saved his life which annoys Jemma for some unknown reason. Well it's not exactly unknown, she knows exactly why she just refuse to acknowledge it.

"Oh no…he's looking right at us!" Bethany exclaimed and the three quickly pulled back behind the safety of the wall.

Grant run his hand through his hair as he divert his gaze looking everywhere but Skye. He spotted his sister and Skye friends hiding behind a wall that separate the kitchen from the dining area whispering at each other. Waiters that pass by would look at them curiously every now and then. As soon as his eyes locked with his sisters they all took cover once more.

"I don't know what to say." Skye stammered biting her lower lip pulling Grant's gaze back to her.

"Ask her out already you moron!" They heard Fitz angrily yelled from behind the wall followed by the shushing sound of the two ladies with him which gained the attention of all patrons in the restaurant. Bethany was clearly annoyed and embarrassed by the attention while Jemma looks shocked and curious. She thought for sure Fitz has a crush on Skye. Did she read him wrong?

"Would you like to go out on a dinner? With me? It doesn't have to be a dinner." He suddenly blurted out getting Skye's attention back to him. For the first time in his life Grant threw all cautions away and went with what his heart is telling him to do not caring abou the consequences. He doesn't know where this is going, he knows that this might cause problems in the future but right now he doesn't care.

Skye beamed at him and nodded yes. She heard excited cheers behind her and turned to see her Jemma and Bethany hugging and jumping in joy while an amused looking Leo walked straight to their table gave Grant a pat on the back and finished the rest of his desert. She laughed at their antics.

She was happy on how their day had turned out but she still can't shake off the guilt she's feeling.

* * *

Skye lie in her bed wide awake still confused on what she's feeling. She knows in her heart that she's not doing anything wrong. She really likes Grant, but she can't help but feel as if she's betraying SHIELD. There is nothing she wants more in her life than follow her father's footsteps and become a full-ledge agent like him. Is she really willing to risk it all just for a guy?

_You're being ridiculous, it's just a date. _

She twisted and turned in an attempt to feel comfortable enough to sleep. Giving up she grabbed her phone and left her room.

She doesn't know what pushed her to do it but she dialled the only person she believed could help her out.

"Hey Skye what's up?" A panting voice of Natasha Romanoff answered the phone.

"I'm sorry, are you busy?" Natasha's the closest thing Skye has to a sister. Every time she needs advise on something she can't discuss with her dad or with May, she knows she can always count on Natasha.

"Nope, just doing some…exercising." Nat answered still breathless, Skye shuddered when she heard Clint's distinct chuckles in the background.

"You know what, I'm just gonna call some other time. Preferably when you're done…exercising."

Natasha stopped her from ending the call by saying "No-no! It's okay, were done." "Oh, we are far from done sweetheart!" she heard Clint call out in the background. _Gross!_

"Okay, what's wrong?" Nat asked Skye as she left their bedroom, away from her annoying boyfriend.

"Nothing's wrong. It's just –"Skye took a deep breath to calm herself before asking "I have a rhetorical question. What if someone who is studying to become an agent, who is not me, wants to date a civilian? Is she going to be expelled?"

"You know that relationship is not really forbidden in SHIELD, right?" Natasha informed the girl. "If you want to date a guy then go ahead."

"Hey, it's just a rhetorical question." Skye defended.

"Are you forgetting what I do for a living?" Nat asked sarcastically. Why did Skye even bother to lie to her.

"But isn't it forbidden to have attachments with someone outside of SHIELD?" Skye asked

"Says who?" Natasha laughed, "Although attachments are discouraged, especially for field agents as it could easily cloud their judgement. It's very much unavoidable simply because it's human nature. Besides it's just a date, Skye. As long as you don't reveal anything about SHIELD then you're good to go."

Skye bit her lip thinking about what Natasha told her. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am!" Natasha grinned smugly "So tell me about this guy. Is he hot?" Natasha demanded interested to learn more about the guy who captured Skye's interest.

* * *

"I specifically told you to stay away from this case." Agent Hill snapped at Agent Coulson as they watched the other agents carry off the dead body of Agent Amador. "You do understand that what I said was not a suggestion, it was an order."

"And if I did follow your _orders_ then what? They'd shower her with bullets even before we gain vital information from her. I told you there was something amiss in this whole case and I was proven right!" Coulson sneered at her. Agent Hill may have been his commanding officer but she does not know Akela as much as Coulson does. And he hates it that she refused to listen to him thinking that he's only letting his attachment with her cloud his judgment.

"The information that she had given were hardly vital. Clairvoyant? So what, we're going against Psychics now?" Agent Hill demanded.

"Any information is better than no information at all. At least this time we're no longer fighting in the dark." Coulson argued back at his commanding officer.

Agent Dela Vega suddenly came up interrupting their argument, "Agent Hill, what are your orders?"

"Send her body to the lab, we need to find out what tech they've put in her. I also want you to contact the Russian Government and try to find out what they're after." She instructed the agent and looked back at Coulson. "I'm warning you Coulson, I want you out of this mission and this country immediately."

Coulson gritted his teeth as he watched them all drive off. He refuses to simply stand back and let Akela's killers run free. He swore that will find the people responsible for this and he will kill them all, even if he had to do it behind SHIELD.


End file.
